The Door-to-Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn, trans. Melody Shaw, 320 pages.
The year is 1888 and Veronica Speedwell, a 26-year old woman with a scientific bent, is trying to find time away from Stoker, her usual partner in solving crimes, because she's conflicted about their friendship perhaps turning into a romantic relationship. She's not sure what she wants, although she's quite vocal about never getting married. When Stoker's brother, Lord Tiberius Templeton-Vane, asks Veronica to join him on a journey to a small island where a longtime friend resides in order to bring some rare butterflies back to London, Veronica can't help herself. Veronica fends off advances from Tiberius in the train, and is annoyed when she finds out that their host, Malcolm Romilly, has been told that she and Tiberius are engaged.
Stoker appears after the train drops them off and they are about to take a boat to St. Maddern's Isle, where Malcolm resides in a castle. There's quite a bit of tension between the brothers, but as it turns out, Tiberius wanted Stoker to join them at the island, which is why he had forbidden him to come. The butterflies are forgotten for awhile as the visitors learn that Malcolm's bride, Rosamund, disappeared on their wedding day three years ago, and Malcolm really needs closure. He wants them to find out what happened to her. Is she dead or did she run away? The castle has secret passageways and priest's holes, which were hiding places for priests when Catholicism was taboo, but they were all checked at the time of Rosamund's disappearance.
The suspects include Malcolm's sister Mertensia (who cultivates plants, including poisonous herbs), Malcolm's sister-in-law Helen (a dabbler in seances) and her son Caspian. And perhaps even Tiberius, who wasn't present on the wedding day, but who was clearly in love with Rosamund.
Even though I had not read the first three books in the series, I didn't feel lost, although this book whetted my appetite for the earlier installments. I've been finding out that books like this one, written recently but set back long ago, are not the fuddy-duddy stories I expect them to be, especially when given a feisty heroine like Veronica!
After several prodding interviews, our unnamed narrator is hired to a secretive job within the Ministry — she's to be a "bridge", a 24-hour assistant and monitor for a person who has been yanked out of the past and is now trying to assimilate into the 21st Century. Her "expat" is British naval officer Graham Gore, who was snatched from a doomed Arctic exploration in 1847. However, as they spend time together and the civil servant files her reports, it becomes apparent that something or someone is trying to undermine the whole time travel experiment.
This was a much more serious book than I'd anticipated, full of musing about the impacts of people from different eras merging lives and ways of thinking. It's also the least time-travelly book about time travel I've ever read — no hopping around in time or random popping up in odd spaces. However, that's not to say that it's bad... I actually really enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to people who are looking for a more literary and thought-provoking science fiction title.
I think the coolest thing about this book, however, is found in the author's note at the end: Graham is based on a real person who actually died in the expedition discussed in the book. I appreciated Bradley's dedication to research and bringing this fairly minor historical figure back to life in a big way.
In 1973 the Rosen family moved into a house in New Rochelle, NY, across the street from the Laudor family. Young Jonathan Rosen and Michael Laudor soon were best friends and inseparable through high school and into college. Both young men were highly intelligent and ambitious. Michael completed college in three years as Summa Cum Laude. He soon went to work for a high power consulting firm. Before long Michael is hospitalized after a psychotic break and is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Johnathan does his best to be supportive while living in California earning Masters and Doctorate degrees. Michael spends time in a halfway house before using his deferred acceptance to Yale Law School. The administration and faculty are very supportive and accommodate Michael's difficulties which includes daily hallucinations of his room engulfed in flames and his parents being Nazi imposters. In spite of that he received his law degree. Soon he was in talks with Ron Howard's production company about making a film of Laudor's life. However, mental illness is unpredictable and things soon went sideways. Michael and his fiancée, Caroline Costello, shared an apartment until the day in 1998 when he brutally stabs her to death. He was captured that night after assaulting police officers It took six weeks before he realized she was dead after not understanding why she hadn't come to see him. Because of the vagaries of the legal system in such cases it took awhile before Michael was incarcerated in an institution in New York. He remains there and his illness is reevaluated for the possibility of release every two years . Much of this book is an examination of the treatment of the mentally ill by both the medical and professions. Because mental illness is so unpredictable it is impossible to find a black & white solution. In spite of his closeness to Laudor and his family, Rosen presents a balanced, informative, and compassionate story of a tragic situation.
Ron Howard never produced a film about Michael Laudor but made "A Beautiful Mind" about schizophrenic mathematician, John Nash a few years after the murder of Costello.
Our Dining Table by Mita Ori, 236 pages.
All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter, 367 pages.
In times long enough ago that they have fallen into family legend, the O'Malley family made a deal with the Mer, trading one child in each generation for wealth, power, and protection from the sea. But the O'Malley family isn't what it once was and Miren O'Malley is the last true descendent, bearing the heavy burden of her family's dark history.
I really enjoyed this dark fairy tale, and I enjoyed even more discussing it with Orcs & Aliens this week! I found the characters compelling, even if it wouldn't be strictly accurate to call them good. I also liked how full and rich the world felt, and I definitely plan to read more books set in this same universe (luckily there are several). This book reminded me in many places of T. Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone, which I would consider high praise. I would definitely recommend this for people looking for a gothic novel (with a happier ending than is standard in the genre) or for people who enjoy a dark twist on fairy tales (with a sadder ending than is standard in the genre).
June and Levi grew up as best friends, but have barely spoken since high school. When both of them retreat to their hometown following high-profile breakups that went viral, they decide that a fake romance might help change the public narrative and win back Levi's ex-girlfriend, while also helping June's teashop become solvent. But as fake dating tropes ALWAYS do, what's pretend becomes real and they soon must grapple with what it means for their goals and their long yet strained friendship.
While there was nothing *wrong* with this book exactly, it also didn't feel quite right. The decade of silence between June and Levi could've been fixed with any one of several conversations (between them or with June's late sister), and while I get that small towns have a vibe all their own, the fact that what seems like their entire high school is still in town and super-involved in town events (despite being just a stone's throw from New York City) felt just a little too insular. The scones that June made sounded fun and, for the most part, tasty though, so there is that.
Desperate to get out of the personal and professional funk she's been in since her father died two years earlier, Cordelia takes a gig housesitting a cozy cottage on the Irish islands of Inishmore for a summer. Soon after arriving, she butts heads with Niall, a recently brokenhearted chef who's come home to help his parents run their pub in the busy season. With a tiny close-knit community, Cordelia and Niall find themselves thrown together much more than anticipated, and soon discover that they actually enjoy each other's company.
While both main characters had relatable and realistic backstories, the setup of the book and the speed at which things developed felt a bit quick and forced. However, I loved the setting and the secondary characters, so all in all it was a nice way to spend an afternoon, even if the book won't win any awards.
I first read this Irish-tinged gothic fantasy back in 2021 and, at the time, found it thought-provoking, lived-in, and atmospheric (see my initial blog post here). That has not changed. I'm happy to say that the Orcs & Aliens book group agreed with me when we discussed it on Monday night, though we also agreed that it's a bit light on mermaids for a book with a giant tail on the cover. But the wealth of other creatures from Irish folklore more than made up for that. Glad I gave this one a second read-through, and I'll definitely be looking into more of Slatter's books in this world.
This is the thirtieth book in the Commissario Guido Brunetti Series. I will start by saying this book has the most unsatisfying ending of all the ones in the series that I've read. Two young women go on a boat ride with two young men they met at a popular night spot. A boating accident leaves the women injured and to disguise their crime, the young men leave the women outside a hospital and leave before they are seen. One woman is seriously injured and ends up in a coma while the other has a broken arm. Brunetti's investigation locates the young men, one of whom is also injured. The injured suspect's uncle owns a transport business and the accident occurred in one of his uncle's boats. Further investigation into the uncle uncovers illegal trafficking of goods and people, mostly women. With the assistance of the Guardia costiera (coast guard) Brunetti sets up a sting operation. I won't give away the ending but it seems to stop short. While this author doesn't go into the aftermath of arrests, trials, etc. in her books, this one stops short of any kind of closure and leaves the reader hanging with too many unanswered questions.
Anna Green is barely getting by, working two jobs to support herself and her father's medical bills, when her husband drops by ‒ Liam is the brother of a friend whom she married in college so that he (and she) could get into family housing at UCLA. (She got to keep the couch when he graduated and went on his way.) She thought the paperwork she'd signed almost 3 years ago meant that they were now divorced. But he admits to her that they are still married, and well, he needs to bring a wife to an extravagant wedding in Indonesia in order to preserve a large inheritance from his grandfather. Anna and Liam had hardly interacted while sharing the apartment for those two years, but she's willing to play along as his wife when she realizes that he'll pay her well for her time over this 12 day extravaganza on a secluded island.
What happens next is kind of a mash up of Pygmalion and Crazy Rich Asians, with an especially toxic family member thrown in for good measure. And although sex hadn't been part of their original agreement back in college, sexual tension plays its own large role in this new situation.
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson, 1220 pages.
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| This update brought to you by a blogger who stayed up reading several hours past their bedtime last night |
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher, 336 pages.
No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe, 196 pages.
Tyson, Summer, Lainey, and Hannah were about as different as could be when they met in college, but soon formed an unbreakable bond. But when promising athlete Summer tragically dies just before graduation, the remaining three make a pact to be there for one another any time and anywhere the other two ask. And when Hannah catches her fiancé cheating on her, she activates that pact, leading her, Tyson, and Lainey on a literal trip of self-discovery.
This was a quick read, I'll give it that. Otherwise, the book was pretty blah, as it was difficult telling which of the three main characters was narrating at any given point (should've been easy, given their differences) and nothing really dipped below surface level. There are better books out there.
Private investigator Vandy Myrick has been back in Queenstown for about 8 months when she gets a visit from Leo Hannah, who asks her to shadow his wife, Ivy, who he fears has a stalker. But just before Vandy's ready to hand over her report from the week, Leo calls her to his home where Ivy and an unknown man are dead. Leo says that he killed the man who was in the process of killing Ivy, and while that's what the police department officially writes up (at the behest of Leo's aunt, who is the mayor of Queenstown), Vandy has a sneaking suspicion that there's more to the story.
A modern-day noir mystery with a troubled Black woman protagonist, this is an intriguing and fun read. I had a few quibbles with the way things wrapped up — it felt a bit unlikely and convenient — but I'll happily read more in this world, assuming this is a series starter. I hope it is.
Faith Frankel is thirty two. She's returned to her hometown after time in NY and now works for a private school, writing thank you notes to donors. Her fiance, Stuart, is attempting to cross the country on foot, financed by her and by his parents, but he spends more time posting photos with himself and women he meets, than returning Faith's calls. In addition to dealing with Stuart, she is trying to buy a house that may have a history of people dying in it, is trying to intercede between her parents (her father has moved away to become an oil painter), and she is trying to save her job, which is suddenly in jeopardy because she is so good at it. Luckily, her brother Joel and her office mate, Nick, are there to listen.
All these rather separate issues take on life. Even the stable guys in Faith's life have their own drama. As the camera rolls, all the action keeps the reader laughing (or catching one's breath). Most of Lipman's books are the kind I reach for when I want a fast, fun escape. This one fit the bill.
Jenna Metcalf, 13, has lived with her grandmother since she was three, when her mother disappeared from the elephant sanctuary that her parents ran after a dead body was found. Her father had a breakdown and has been living in a mental facility all these years. Jenna has never fit in anywhere, and spends her life reading her mother's journals, while keeping her eye on missing persons reports online, hoping that her mother is still alive and will be found someday.
After earning enough money babysitting, she reaches out to a detective (Vic Stanhope) whose name strongly resembles the name of the police investigator who came to the elephant sanctuary the night of the murder/disappearance. He spends most of his time drinking now. Not one to hedge her bets, Jenna also finds the name of a psychic (Serenity Jones) who used to be famous for finding missing people until she provided dramatically bad information for a senator and his wife, whose baby had been kidnapped. Serenity now makes a living giving ten-dollar readings. The three of them begin to work together, after several fits and starts. The pieces begin to come together in chapters delineated by the various characters' points of view. The results were not at all what I was expecting. Tremendously good read. And fascinating facts about elephants provide a superb framework for the story.
Ashlyn Greer owns a rare book shop and has the ability to sense the previous owners of books. When she receives some boxes of books from a local estate she finds two beautifully bound volumes that apparently were not published. The books are the story of a doomed romance during the days leading up to WWII. Belle is the younger daughter of a wealthy family who is in an arranged engagement to a wealthy young man whose father wants to do business with her father. Belle's father is an evil man who is part of the America First Committee, an anti-Semitic, pro-fascist, isolationist organization. At the engagement party Belle meets Hemi, a British journalist, and they soon begin a clandestine affair. The two books are written by each of them, giving their own side of what went wrong. Ashlyn contacts the man who brought the books to her store and together they search for the real identities of Belle and Hemi in his family. The story is well written but I was hoping to see more of Ashlyn's telemetry skills used in the story.
For reasons unknown, Davi is stuck in a time loop wherein she is tasked with defending humankind against the Dark Lord, and after more than 200 unsuccessful tries (read: she literally died trying), Davi has had enough. On try 238, she decides to become the Dark Lord instead of fighting him/her/them, and while it takes her a few short lives to get the hang of it, Davi learns that she has a knack for leading a horde of orcs and other wild beings.
This is a fun, raunchy, irreverent fantasy novel, full of pop culture references and snarky humor. It may throw off those new to the genre (as there isn't really a great explanation for the Earth-centric pop culture references other than Davi musing that she "must've come from Earth at some point"), but for others, this is will be a welcome goofy adventure. Read it if you liked Dreadful, Soon I Will Be Invincible, Hench, or other novels with a fantasy antihero.
I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla narrated by Gemma Dawson. The Atlantic published a list of The Great American Novels earlier this year. There was a lot more diversity amongst the authors on this list compared to others I've seen, so I added several books to my reading list. I had also recently seen a review of a graphic biography about Djuna Barnes that will be published later this year. I jumped into this novel, which is Modernist, without knowing much about the Modernist movement. T.S. Eliot wrote an introduction praising the novel as an example of this artistic movement. He suggested that people who like poetry would appreciate her use of language. It certainly is florid in its literary stream-of-consciousness. Eliot also prepared me not to expect much plot, but I really like a strong plot. Audiobooks are "real" reading, but it is more passive. By the end, I had forgotten how the two characters, who converse about a woman's love for another woman, connect to the characters introduced at the beginning. I struggled to fully understand this book. It was not for me.
The story of how this seminal work came to be is one for the ages. Fresh off The River tour in 1981, which garnered his first top ten hit for the song "Hungry Heart," Springsteen had a slew of new material to work out for his next record. He wasn't quite sure what it was going to sound like, but he knew he had something he wanted to say.
At the time, he was working his way through a deep depression, reviewing the trauma of his childhood and taking interest in stories about the darker side of Reagan's America, who had been newly elected President in 1981. Nebraska would become Springsteen's response to Reagan's optimist "Morning in America" messaging. The rocker took some cultural clues and blended them with his own influences: chiefly, the film Badlands by Terrence Malick and the short stories of Flannery O'Conner.
To record his demos, Springsteen rented an hold farmhouse in New Jersey and set-up a new TEAC 144 Portastudio--the first portable, multi-track mixer to use a standard cassette tape. Springsteen recorded his songs alone and sent the tape to his manager. The songs were dark, far darker than anything the artist had written at the time. When Springsteen got the band together to record the new material, the sound wasn't working--"nothing seemed to capture the spirit of the cassette recordings."
The artist tried to re-record them solo, in a nice studio with good equipment, but even then, the characters in the songs were getting lost. It wasn't until his manager suggested that, maybe he should just release the demo tape as is. Then the book pivots to the struggle to get the best possible sound signal from the cassette tape onto the vinyl record, which was another major headache and almost never happened. Ultimately, the critically acclaimed Nebraska would become one of Springsteen's most revered albums and cement his legacy as a true artist--to this day, he still cites it as the best thing he's ever done.
