Vice and Virtue

Vice and Virtue by Libby Klein, 320 pages

Former cop and current aspiring musician Layla Virtue has had a rough go of it since leaving the force with a tattered reputation. She's a recovering alcoholic who has to take any gig that's offered to her, including a thankless performance for a spoiled kid's birthday party, where balloon artist Chuckles the Clown sexually harasses her before he drops dead on stage. While it could've been natural causes, Layla's not convinced, and between gigs, begins investigating his death, starting with his string of ex-wives.

This could've been a fun mystery, especially when Layla's aging rockstar dad pops up in her trailer park, but something about this just hits a bit wrong. Part of that is Layla's questionable investigative practices (approaching and questioning suspects at AA meetings key among them) and part of it is the fact that there is absolutely no reason to care about who killed Chuckles, who was, by all accounts, a jerk. I'd skip this one.

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke, 352 pgs.

In Seek You, Kristen Radtke blends many ideas about loneliness--historical, personal, scientific, cultural, controversial, universal--through words and drawings which all come together to paint a picture of the importance of seeking connection. She presents reasons why we experience loneliness, and how modern American culture amplifies it. She argues that movies and TV often show loneliness as a positive trait in men (like the gunslinging cowboys riding off solo into the distance) and negative in women (like the somewhat slovenly, yet loveable, rom-com lead). Radtke disputes the idea that loneliness is "cured" by finding a partner to marry, and she implores each of us to reach out into our communities--like we are biologically designed to. 

Byron and Regan have each already reviewed this one really well, but my two cents are:
I found the author's use of examples to be very effective in representing the universality of loneliness. Her drawings of the poor primates used in experiments were absolutely heart-breaking. 

The Afterlife Project

The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed, 272 pages

In the near future, climate change and a global pandemic have decimated the human race, leaving just a few scattered communities still alive and next to no children being born (literally — fertile women are so rare that they're commodities easily kidnapped and thus guarded closely). Given this drastic change, a project originally created to send people to off-world colonies has shifted focus to try sending people 10,000 years into the future in the hopes of re-establishing the human race. And that takes us to this book's second storyline: a scientist from that group has awoken sometime around the year 11,000 AD, and is trying to find some sign of other humans in the vast, environmentally reclaimed world.

Told in alternating timelines between the near future and far, far distant future, this is an interesting take on climate fiction, showing that it's not the world so much as humanity that's suffering from what we've done to the planet. That said, it's also really questionable that the scientists who see what we've done would think that yeeting a human 10,000 years into the future to restart the destructive species is a good idea, which makes that whole premise pretty hard to buy. Between that and a few other problematic choices by the scientists, I'm inclined to think of this as an OK thought experiment, but not a particularly great book.

Of Monsters and Mainframes

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove, 424 pages

Well, Regan just barely beat me to the punch on this review, so instead of reinventing the wheel with this post, I'll just direct you to hers. It's science fiction with cameos by Universal Studios monsters, and while that's weird as heck, it's also a bunch of fun. Yeah, it took a while to come together, but yes, still fun.

The View from Lake Como

The View from Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani, 416 pages

Jess is recently divorced and has moved into the basement of her overbearing Italian-American parents' house, lamenting her inability to do anything in life that really inspires passion. She's a talented draftsperson for her uncle's marble business and just after he invites her on a trip to visit the source of the company's marble in Italy, he dies, leaving her with an open-ended plane ticket, a new business in her name, and a whole pile of trouble in the form of long-buried family secrets and a second set of account books for the business. While she agrees to work with the feds on sorting out her uncle's crimes, Jess is allowed to leave for Italy, where she does whatever she can to figure out who she really is.

This was my first Trigiani novel, and I wasn't really expecting the high level of New Jersey/Italian American stereotypes — it was a bit overbearing in the first section of the book. However, once Jess made it to Italy, the idyllic village and slower pace of life was particularly soothing. It wasn't my favorite book, and it definitely leaned a little too hard on romantic comedy/woman on a journey of self-discovery tropes, but I'm glad I read it. It's a good escape.

Of Monsters and Mainframes

 Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove, 407 pages.

Demeter is a dependable spaceship. She has successfully shuttled lots of humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri, and had no complaints. That is, until Dracula sneaks on board, murders all of her humans, and gets her branded a ghost ship. This seems to mark some sort of metaphysical unsealing, because from then on she seems inundated with supernatural creatures determined to kill her humans. Spaceships aren't programmed for vengeance, but Demeter has already had to make lots of adjustments to her code, and she'll make one more to take the people she's gathered closest to her and go kill the monster who started all of this.

This is a really unusual book! It's sort of Dracula meets the League of Extraordinary Gentleman (complete with vampire Mina Murray), with a heavy dose of pulpy sci-fi thrown in for good measure. The first half of this book felt more like a collection of short stories than the unified novel I was expecting, but I enjoyed myself the entire time, so I really can't complain. Similarly, the found family elements seem less prevalent than I expected from the premise, but I really enjoyed all of the characters. This book was a romp! I would definitely recommend it to fans of classic movie monsters. 

Dog Flowers

 Dog Flowers: A Memoir by Danielle Geller, 272 pages.

After Danielle Geller's mother dies from alcohol withdrawal, she is left with a suitcase full of her papers and a profound feeling of not knowing nearly enough about her mother's life before it was over. In the years that follow Geller uses her archival training to make sense of both her mother's papers and her own grief, both for her mother and the life they could have had together. This journey takes her not only to her childhood home in Florida, but to the Navajo reservation her mother grew up on, bringing Geller to family she had never had the opportunity to meet.

I'm not sure that this book had significantly more primary source material than the average memoir with photos, but the most interesting parts of this book were consistently where Geller's training granted her an unusual perspective on her own life. That being said, this is definitely a troubled family memoir, which isn't a genre I am particularly interested in. This ended up being structurally a much more conventional memoir than I was expecting, and I'm afraid I found it a little dull. 

The Black Wolf

The Black Wolf  by Louise Penny, 374 pgs.

"We have a problem."
A few months ago, Chief Inspector Gamache called together his closest confidants and uttered these harrowing words. For a moment, the trio of Inspectors--Gamache, Beauvoir, and Lacoste--had thought that they were safe. They had just foiled a massive plan which threatened Montreal, and yet danger still loomed over the city. Now, Gamache--still recovering from the injuries he sustained solving the previous step in this disastrous plot--must lean on those he can trust, while determining who he cannot. He needs to figure out who is the "black wolf" behind all this. The future and safety of Montreal, and Canada as a whole, could depend on what his team does, and there is no time for mistakes. 

This book is a roller coaster of loop-de-loops. It can be quite fun at times, but after a while, it gets a bit old. The Inspectors do a much better job in this iteration of making headway uncovering the conspiracy continued from The Grey Wolf, but sometimes it feels like each new piece of information they find leads them right back to a previous conclusion. Also, in a world where unprecedented, horrible things happen in politics all the time, the overall premise for this novel feels both too real and a little far-fetched. Despite the book's faults, though, there are some really exciting and interesting moments, and it is always nice to get inside Gamache's head.

After a full year, I am finally caught up on Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series!! Thank you to all of you who supported me in this journey :) It's been a great ride. 

Dead & Breakfast

Dead & Breakfast by Kat Hillis & Rosiee Thor, 336 pages

Married vampires Arthur and Sal have just welcomed their first guest at their new B&B in a small vacation town in Oregon. While there are a few other paranormal business owners in Trident Falls, there's also a fairly wide stripe of anti-paranormal sentiment in town, so when the mayor turns up dead in Arthur and Sal's flower bed, they're desperate to find the killer — and they're hoping against hope that it's not someone paranormal. With the help of an elfin coroner and a werewolf barista/lawyer, as well as the new city manager (human), Arthur and Sal are on the case.

This was a cozy mystery with a fantastic paranormal twist. I loved the straitlaced/flamboyant pairing of Arthur and Sal, especially as their relationship grows and matures over the course of the book. This definitely isn't something to read if you're looking for something challenging or super serious, but it's an excellent frothy and fun escape.

Angelica and the Bear Prince

 Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen, 224 pages.

Angelica was a girl who threw herself into everything with all she had. But after she burned out hard last year, she's no longer who she even is without being everything to everyone. In an attempt to learn to focus on one thing at a time, and to start easing back into activities, she gets an internship at a beloved local theater, one that she's been in love with since she was a kid. But she has an ulterior motive. When Angelica was at her lowest she started messaging with the theater's mascot, Peri the Bear, on social media. Peri knows her better than anyone else, and she wants a chance to meet him in person to thank him, and maybe learn something about the person under the mask.

The wholesome comic is a loose retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, which is a Norwegian fairy tale I wasn't familiar with. Le Nguyen's soft, dreamy style makes the whole book feel like a warm hug, and is a perfect fit for the wintery fairy tale. However, there was still a lot of grappling with heavy topics. Grief and feelings of inadequacy are both rooted deeply into the themes of this book, and expressed very honestly. While I didn't find this comic quite as mind-blowing as The Magic Fish, Trung Le Nguyen's first book, it was still a great read, perfect for a snowy evening. 

This Place: 150 Years Retold

 This Place: 150 Years Retold by various authors, 287 pages.

This comic anthology asks a large collection of Indigenous artists to contribute stories of the past, present, and future of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Although a few comics are forays into magical realism or science fiction, I would say most feel more like simple retellings of historical incidents that feel designed to be shared online to spread awareness to people with a casual interest. That being said, some also felt like they assumed more knowledge of general Canadian history than I have. This is a really cool concept, but I'm afraid there aren't many stand-out stories for me. 

November Totals

It's too cold to go out, stay in and read instead. 

Annie: 4 books, 1672 pages

Byron: 8 books, 1839 pages

Hammy: 6 books, 1522 pages

Jan: 4 books, 1379 pages

John: 2 books, 790 pages

Kara: 11 books, 3477 pages

Regan: 9 books, 2882 pages

Totals: 44 books, 13561 pages

Patternist #1-2

 Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler (1980) 321 pages 

I listened to both of these as audiobooks on Libby narrated by Robin Miles. I finished Wild Seed back in September, but the second book just this week. This is a series where the series order is different from the order in which the author wrote them. Butler writes Wild Seed to sound like ancient myth with gods and mortals. It is more fantasy than sci-fi, but like the other books I've read by Butler holds close to reality. Doro is an immortal spirit that has possessed many human bodies over thousands of years. His possessions are described in terms of a predator eating his prey. His children, originating from Africa at first, but later through all races, have various telepathic abilities. Latent abilities sometimes become active. It is interesting how Butler imagines all sorts of special superhuman powers as beginning with abilities in the mind. Again, picture most of these powers as being hidden unless the person wants to be accused of being a witch of some sort. There are no masks or capes or action-heavy fist fights. Still, my imagination made comparisons to X-Men comics/movies without the heroics. Most of the book is about the relationship between Doro and a distant descendant Anyanwu. She has healing/shapeshifting powers and may be immortal like Doro. Doro plans to strengthen his descendants through selective breeding, which brings concepts around eugenics to mind. This story progresses from 17th century Nigeria to 19th century America. There is a huge power struggle between Doro and Anyanwu, but also a shaky romance. (Are they equals?) Anyanwu eventually raises generations of telepaths for Doro as America is founded.

 Mind of My Mind by Octavia E. Butler (1977) 228 pages

It took a long time for me to figure out when this second book is set. There are very few historical markers, which is not a bad thing. It makes the story timeless. In fact, it is set roughly in the 1970s when Butler was writing the novel. It flows smoothly from Wild Seed, so it surprised me to learn it was written earlier. Anyanwu has changed her name to Emma. She and Doro are still around. But this story focuses on one of her granddaughters, Mary. Doro moves Mary, who has incredible telepathic abilities, to California. Mary's power develops as the "Patternist" that gives the series its name. She is able to link the minds of less than a dozen active telepaths at first. She builds and strengthens a community of hundreds of telepaths and some unpowered humans until she becomes a threat to Doro's power, and a competitor to his master plan. Butler's writing is so good at the drama of relationships and the inner working of peoples' minds. At the end, there is something close to an action scene out of a superhero comic book, but it is powerful because of Butler's character development over these two books.

Invisible Women

 

Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez (2019) 411 pages

Most research collects data on men, and if one thinks it can be applied to women, think again! Not only can research be unhelpful with regard to women, it can be detrimental. Criado Perez looks at the lives of women and how much better women‒as well as society‒would be if women's contributions, as well as their needs, were actually taken into account. Well-researched, well-footnoted work. Written in a spunky, engaging style. Very eye-opening.

The Grey Wolf

The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny, 414 pgs.

A few years ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache stood on the shore by Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups and watched his best friend ride away from him, possibly forever. The Abbot of the monastery then told him the story of the place's name--the story of the grey wolf, representing the good inside all of us, and the black wolf, representing the darkness. The Abbot left Gamache with the message that the wolf that wins within us is the one that we feed. 
Now, although Gamache has done his best to feed his grey wolf, to do good in his position in the Surete, there are those who have fed their own black wolves. After a series of peculiar events culminate in the death of a suspect, Gamache must figure out who he can trust as he solves the mystery of a case which seems to be much bigger than originally expected. 

The Grey Wolf, Louise Penny's nineteenth novel in the Three Pines series, includes one of her most ambitious plots yet. It is so big that it spans into the next one, The Black Wolf. Some of this big plot works well and creates for very exciting moments. For example, the final showdown is very interesting. Other aspects, however, feel a bit drawn out. At times, Penny relies too heavily on explicitly written phrases to manufacture tension, rather than letting the story do that on its own. Throughout the novel, chapters end in phrases like, "As it turned out, Chief Inspector Gamache was wrong. Very wrong." (213), but the payoff for those statements often does not come until the end of the book (or it comes and turns out to be not-so-shocking), so readers learn not to trust these mini-cliffhangers. For readers who have already come to know and love these characters, it is always a pleasure to follow Gamache as he untangles a messy mystery, but for those who are new to the series, there are better books with which to begin. 

A selection of November graphic novels

Briar Vol. 1: Sleep No More by Christopher Cantwell with art by German Garcia (2023) 128 pages

Reading for #hooplachallenge "Beyond the Storybook" theme this month. Clearly leads right into volume 2, but I didn't love it enough to continue. Maybe later. Chapter one "Nothing Sharp in Sight" has the lovely transition from soft storybook telling of Sleeping Beauty leading to dystopian fantasy future. We even get a rodent of unusual size! The beginning of Briar Rose's journey is handled well. Bloody and scatological, Cantwell's use of language is stilted. Chapter two "The Witch Which Witches Not" reveals the evil that pursues Briar Rose and her growing band of misfits. Chapter three "Of Villainous, Cruel Gnomes" starts with a flashback for a new character and continues with the same sort of dark adventure. Chapter four "Adra Adrata Adracta" brings the threads together pretty well and reveals a surprise that makes sense going back to the beginning. I like the band of misfits and visually I like the series. I do want to find out what happens next, so I probably will pick up volume 2 at some point.

Ruins by Peter Kuper (2015) 328 pages

"Samantha and George are a couple heading towards a sabbatical year in the quaint Mexican town of Oaxaca. For Samantha, it is the opportunity to revisit her past. For George, it is an unsettling step into the unknown." I loved seeing the butterfly's journey. I loved getting to know the city of Oaxaca (wah-ha-ka) and surrounding areas of Mexico. Many layers to the relationship story, but a troubled one.

Lackadaisy: Volume 1 by Tracy J. Butler (2009) 96 pages

Tracy J. Butler is a local St. Louis artist. This is set in St. Louis in 1927. Prohibition has sparked the engine of organized crime. The story is full of 1920s slang and references. Good sense of humor. Good character development of anthropomorphized cats in spiffy outfits.

Once Upon a Time Machine edited by Andrew Carl, written and illustrated by many artists (2012) 431 pages

Anthology of many international comic artists adapting fairy tales from around the world into futuristic tales. There seems to be a large number of artists from Philadelphia invited to contribute. It is a mix of more or less successful adaptations. Some artists have provided just a single page illustration, but it is the other short adaptations that make it worth your while. I'll highlight a few that I thought were clever and unique, but you may be more strongly drawn to others. I thought "Pinocchio or The Stars Are Not Wanted Now" had a nice twist on the lesson of telling the truth or telling lies. "The Puppet-Show Man or No Strings" is based on a story I'm not familiar with, but it drew me in with its grungy art and 'be careful what you wish' lesson. "The Shepherd and the Weaver Girl" feels epic and mythical. This adaptation of the Chinese myth has a clever way of drawing on the old and imagining it in the future. I also liked the nanotechnology dreamed up in the adaptation of "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi." The adaptation of "The Ugly Duckling or The Ugly Part" changes the ingredients of the story quite a bit, but achieves a better moral in the end. I really enjoyed "Vasilissa the Beautiful" based on a Slavic Baba Yaga tale. And "The Gold Piece or A Destiny Earned" was sweet and meaningful.

Washington's Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron von Steuben by Josh Trujillo with art by Levi Hastings (2023) 192 pages

"A graphic novel biography of Baron von Steuben, the soldier, immigrant, and flamboyant homosexual who influenced the course of US history during the Revolutionary War despite being omitted from our textbooks." I love learning about history and a person's life in this way. Well illustrated and moves along fairly quickly. Some memoir scenes and other brief introductions of queer people in history are sprinkled in too. 

Ash's Cabin by Jen Wang (2024) 320 pages

I grew up enjoying Illustrated Classics versions of Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Crusoe. I also loved imagining the survival stories in Island of the Blue Dolphins and Incident at Hawk's Hill. I loved this story of nonbinary Ash challenging themselves to find their grandpa's hidden cabin in a National Forest in California. It feels very real as Ash studies and prepares. This is not a spur of the moment decision. Learning to survive with their dog, Chase, is an experience in which they learn from their mistakes and find what is most important in their life. Great art and structured like a journal.

The Stoneshore Register by G. Willow Wilson with art by M.K. Perker (2025) 128 pages

I like the lead character, Fadumo, a refugee and stranger to this Pacific Northwest town. The townspeople are fairly well drawn too, but we don't get to know them very deeply. I like the exploration of the uncanny and weird. I didn't enjoy chapter 4 as much. Chapter 5 nails the real message of the graphic novel when the immigration agents come looking for Fadumo. G. Willow Wilson's writing continues to be enjoyable.

Aristotle: A Graphic Biography by Tassos Apostolidis with art by Alecos Papadatos (2024) 216 pages

Nice framing device with a colleague of Aristotle teaching his students about Aristotle's life and thoughts. I like the basic color scheme. Some lengthy text for historical exposition is mixed with occasional humor and fairly detailed summaries of Aristotle's major philosophical concepts. I like the peek into daily life around Greece of the time and how Aristotle's relationships with family and friends is portrayed. The book does a good job of making him more than just the figure behind these abstract ethical/scientific concepts. He was real and enjoyed life.

The Last Witch

The Last Witch by C.J. Cooke, 352 pages

Noblewoman Helena is doing her best to keep house and provide an heir for her husband (even if that means taking a lover to compensate for her husband's sterility) when she learns of the brutal death of her childhood friend, who was burned at the stake for witchcraft. And now the notorious witchfinder that killed her friend is now on his way to Helena's hometown of Innsbruck, bent on finding and prosecuting as many witches (AKA women) as possible. When Helena insults the man during his visit to her manor, she suddenly finds herself among the first batch of "witches" rounded up in the Innsbruck witch hunt.

Based on the true story of a woman who bravely fought back against one of the cruelest witchfinders of the 15th Century, this historical fiction isn't always an easy read. But it is somehow hopeful and (unfortunately) still very relevant today. An excellent dive into historical fiction for Cooke, and well worth a read.

The Ex-Boyfriend's Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee

The Ex-Boyfriend's Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee by Saki Kawashiro, 304 pages

When a romantic getaway turns into Momoko getting dumped by her longtime boyfriend, she gets drunk and passes out in a mostly empty 24-hour cafe. When she wakes up, the proprietor and one of his regular customers, a Buddhist monk-in-training, listen to her woes and give her the chance to cook her ex's favorite chicken curry dish in an attempt at closure. When the meal turns out to be better than most of the food currently on offer in the cafe, the trio decides to form the titular committee, giving patrons the chance to exorcise their relationship demons while letting go of the meals that tied them to their exes.

This type of cozy food-based loosely-connected story is pretty popular in the Japanese literature that's making its way to the U.S. (see: The Kamogawa Food Detectives, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, etc), and this one seems to be a bit more of a cohesive overarching story than many of those. That said, there are some moments that pulled me out of the story, actions or statements that were so abrupt that it almost felt like I was trying to read a prose version of an anime (yes, I mean the movies, not manga) — I could almost picture the fast animation of Momoko crying out an exhortation and flinging her arms dramatically. However, it is an intriguing entry into this subgenre, and the included recipes made me hungry.

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson, 277 pages

I first read and reviewed this science fiction mystery back in 2023, and that review still rings true — it's inventive, well-conceived, engaging, and amazing. It was a hit with the Orcs & Aliens too, which is always nice.

Exiles

Exiles by Mason Coile, 224 pages

While a few robots have gone ahead to prepare the space, the first three permanent human inhabitants of the new Mars colony are finally on their way. But when they arrive, they find half the base destroyed and one of the three robots missing. Following protocols, the three astronauts must interrogate the remaining two robots, who have developed identities and personalities in the absence of human input, and determine what happened, and if the humans are safe to stay — not that they have a way to get home, but at least if they solve the mystery, they can be reasonably assured that they're not going to have a rogue robot kill them in their sleep.

This is an odd mix of locked-room mystery and space horror, all tied up in a fairly short but insanely creepy book. I wish the author had taken a couple more pages to flesh out some of the backstory. The "logic" of the robots didn't always make sense, and I feel like the author may have used robotic logic only when it was convenient to the story. Still, if you'd like a good Mars-based scare, give this one a whirl. It's a quick read.

A Case of Mice and Murder

A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith, 336 pages

It's 1901 and Inner Temple barrister Gabriel Ward is bogged down with a case concerning the authorship of a popular children's book about a mouse. However, when the Lord Chief Justice of England is found dead (and scandalously barefoot!) on Gabriel's doorstep, he reluctantly divides his attention to attempt solving the murder. 

Full of detail about the hidden legal world of early 1900s London and plenty of suspects and intrigue, it moves a bit slowly at times, but that's to be expected for a series starter. An excellent historical mystery, and highly recommended.

Amity

Amity by Nathan Harris, 320 pages

While the Civil War is over, in New Orleans in 1866, the reins are still pretty tight on the freedmen who are still working for their former masters. Such is the case with Coleman, a bookish former slave, and his protective sister, June, who still work for the Harpers. Then Mr. Harper takes June with him on a search for a riches in Mexico, leaving his wife and adult daughter behind. Months later, Coleman accompanies the Harper women on an ill-fated trip west, hoping to find June, who has finally escaped Mr. Harper's handsy clutches.

This book looks at a post-Civil War world that isn't often explored, that of westward expansion through the eyes of emancipated people who are trying to navigate their newfound, and often very fragile, freedom. It's richly told, with gorgeous language — just what you'd expect from the author of the multiple award-winning literary gem, The Sweetness of Water. An intriguing story to ponder.

Silver and Lead

 Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire, 389 pages.

In this 19th installment of the October Daye series, Toby has to deal with the fact that she is much less indestructible then she has gotten used to. Well, technically she is nearly as indestructible, but she is also more than eight months pregnant, which really limits how much danger she can throw herself into. But when Queen Windermere demands that Toby investigates some dangerous items that were stolen from the royal treasury she doesn't fight the assignment too hard. Her loved ones have hardly let her leave the house for the last four months, and heroes were not made to sit peacefully on the couch indefinitely. 

I love how much fun McGuire is clearly having putting Toby in very different situations than she has been in previously. There was good action in this book, and it gave many series staples a chance to shine. That being said, I do also feel that this book was a little weighed-down by nineteen books of background information being presented as exposition. I was also hopeful that this book would be a return to Toby doing detective work, but unfortunately it was more of a book where plot happens to her. The villain at one point says that Toby has never been smart so much as persistent, but that persistence works surprisingly well when you're nearly indestructible, and unfortunately Toby doesn't do a whole lot to disprove that claim in this book. Not a bad entry to the series, but not likely to be my favorite either. 

The Everlasting

 The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow, 320 pages.

Owen Mallory has been obsessed with Sir Una Everlasting, hero of Dominion and part of the nation's foundational legends, since he was a child. It was her face that sent him to war, and her story that drove him to study history. But when he is sent through time to preserve Dominion's history, he learns that the woman is not so simple as the legend. Una is a broken woman; her decades at war have left her scarred inside and out, and she wants nothing more than to abandon the story she is trapped in. Instead they must live out the end of her life: her final quest, a great betrayal, her noble death, again and again. Finding a different ending means breaking her myth, so they both have to decide what is more important: the woman or what she represents.

I liked this book so much it's hard to talk coherently about it. This book is doing so much at once, and it's doing it with balance, grace, and beautiful prose. This is partially a love story about knowing someone on a bone-deep level built through an uncountable amount of time. It's also a tragedy. It's also a scathing critique about how fascism needs to rewrite history to justify its own existence. I cried at the end and haven't stopped thinking of them since. I do believe this is my best book of the year. 

A World of Curiosities

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny, 390 pgs.

It is springtime in Three Pines, and everyone is celebrating the graduating class of the local engineering college. The graduates include Three Pines bookstore owner Myrna Landers's niece and a young woman who Chief Inspector Armand Gamache began to help after her case. The woman, Fiona Arsenault, and her brother, Sam, bring up many feelings of unease and mistrust for Inspector Gamache and his son-in-law/friend, Inspector Beauvoir, but after so much time has passed, there is little evidence upon which to base their feelings. When the townsfolk discover a hidden room in Myrna's home which seems to be linked to a mysterious death, the Inspectors must put their feelings aside and consider all possibilities, despite what their guts tell them. An old evil has been released from the hidden room, and it will take a team to protect the town from disaster. 

We have arrived at the eighteenth book in the Three Pines series, and it seems like Louise Penny is running out of ideas. After a very thought-provoking and focused previous novel, this one feels haphazard and--regrettably--a bit cheesy. Similar to other books in the series, this one includes a few different storylines and themes, but it feels like some of them get lost in the shuffle--namely a connection to the real-life massacre that occurred at École Polytechnique and an exploration of the case that brought Gamache and Beauvoir together. Penny brings up very heavy topics such as child sexual abuse, police corruption, and school shootings, but chooses not to confront them, and instead reuses gimmicks to bring readers' focus back to the main mystery. This book is scary and, at times, thrilling, but it does not quite hit any deeper notes for me.

The Madness of Crowds

The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny, 432 pgs. 

Bodies packed into an old gym, murmuring in anticipation. Sweltering heat in the middle of an unforgiving Quebecois winter. Tensions and temperatures rising in this claustrophobic room. One shove could lead to total chaos. Violence erupted at this speaker's previous events, and Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is here to make sure it does not happen again--despite his personal feelings about the speaker and the event itself. With the pandemic still fresh in the minds of everyone involved, there are many factors that make this situation feel so dangerous, but the main one is the harmful rhetoric about disabled people spewed by the speaker. Gamache knows that no matter what happens at this event, harm has already been done, as the speaker's ideas are becoming more widely discussed. The pandemic lockdown was a pressure-cooker for fear and loneliness, and while reuniting has largely been a salve, the madness of crowds could also now be society's undoing. 

This seventeenth novel in the Three Pines series is a hard read. From the very beginning of this book, I was angry. I was angry that Louise Penny would even have characters debate the repulsive ideas shared by the speaker and her followers. I was angry about the pandemic, and I was angry about the world. As I read on, though, I began to think about my anger and about what Louise Penny was actually trying to say. I worried that the very discussion and debate of the speaker's ideas could legitimize them, and that scared me, but the fact is that those ideas (sadly) are ones that already exist, and perhaps it is important to confront and dispute them before they whip up a mad crowd behind them. Themes of justice, political killings and martyrdom, mercy, and crowd mentality all bring up very real, very relevant fears relating to public health policy and societal discussion post-pandemic. While far from perfect, ultimately, I believe this is one of the best books in the series due to how much it makes you think about important ethical topics. To be clear Louise Penny, Gamache, and I are against eugenics. This one is more than just a murder mystery; it is a mirror. It is a hard read, but a good one. 

Palm Meridian

Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive, 256 pages

It's 2067, Florida's partially underwater, and Hannah is ready to celebrate her upcoming death. She lives in the Palm Meridian Retirement Resort, an upbeat world of queer women who haven't let old age slow them down at all, and when she learns that she has terminal cancer, Hannah decides to celebrate and face death on her own terms. However, she can't have a party without some bittersweet memories, especially when her longtime business partner shows up to the party... but the long lost love of her life doesn't. Told in alternating chapters between the day of the party and flashbacks to Hannah's younger days, we get a good look at Hannah's complicated relationships with her friends and loved ones, and why she might want them around in her last day on Earth. It's funny, it's moving, it's bittersweet, it's a lovely book.

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna, 352 pages

Sera Swan was one of the most powerful witches in the world when she was young, but after being kicked out of the Guild, she retreated to her great aunt's rural inn and set an everlasting spell to protect the place and people she loved. Unfortunately, that same spell to protect the inn managed to completely wipe out Sera's magical abilities. Several years later, the inn is starting to fall apart and Sera isn't quite sure what to do anymore. That's when magical historian Luke shows up with his autistic and very magical little sister, Poppy, after the Guild has also kicked Poppy out. He's convinced that his stay at the inn is going to be a short one, but surrounded by people who care about and understand her, Poppy has never done better, and Luke's departure date keeps getting pushed back.

This is the coziest of cozy fantasy novels, with plenty of quirky characters and a found family to die for. I'd love to stay at this inn, and I highly recommend this to fans of cozy fantasy.

Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore

 Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz, 368 pages.

Violet Thistlewaite has spent her whole life as the fearsome Thornwitch, right-hand to the dark sorcerer Shadowfade. But after Shadowfade is killed by a hero, and the hero tells her to "be good," Violet has to reinvent herself. She wants to be someone better, and the town of Dragon's Rest is the perfect place to set up a flower shop and try to make up for some of the evil she did in her life. But when a mysterious blight strikes the plants of the town she will have to work with her landlord (a grumpy, but handsome, former alchemist) to save the town that is becoming her new home. 

This book was good enough, but it ended up being a strangely generic book for how unique and interesting it's premise was. The book was cute and fairly well-written, and I quite liked the supporting cast. However, I felt like the drive to preserve this cute and cozy vibe rather undercuts the frankly massive death count in Violet's backstory in a way that wasn't particularly balanced. This was a fine book, but I'm afraid it didn't quite live up to the great book it could have been. 

Just Another Dead Author

Just Another Dead Author by Katarina Bivald (2025) 373 pages

In this novel we once again encounter Swedish mystery author Berit Gardner, the main character in The Murders of Great Diddling. She has agreed to be part of a two-week long workshop for writers in a somewhat run-down villa in France. Berit has published several books and will be one of the workshop teachers, but the main attraction of the workshop is acclaimed writer John Wright. Some of the would-be writers revere him, in spite of his cantankerous nature. When Wright ends up dead, the workshop goes on, partly to keep all the suspects together while the police investigate the murder. Several of the participants find that the police work is giving them a window into how investigations work, helpful if they want to write murder mysteries.

Berit's way of noticing details is helpful to Commissaire Beatrice Roche, although Roche's newbie inspector, who has been dubbed "The Mayor," is suspicious of her. Berit herself is trying to figure out who the murderer was, and is concerned that some of the younger writers at the workshop are so set on finding the murderer and writing a book about it, that they may not be considering their own safety.

I liked so much about this book. Not only was I kept guessing about whodunnit, but the characterizations are well done. Berit isn't just a smart writer trying to figure things out, she is also a person who feels kind of down about experiencing another murder up close, and realizing that she needs to widen her pool of suspects to include her friends.

She Didn't See It Coming

 She Didn't See It Coming by Shari Lapena (2025, 337 pages)

Bryden Frost: mother to a 3-year old, successful accountant, luxury condo owner, wife to Sam. 

When Sam gets a call that Bryden hasn't picked up their child from daycare, he thinks her day slipped away from her working from home and goes to pick her up himself. But when they arrive home, Bryden is gone. As if she had just left.

Notable players include a man with an accusation just down the hall; her sister more involved than thought; her jealous best friend; a man she met on a whim three months prior; HIS girlfriend; and of course her husband. A murder within a closed condo, yet the whole city is watching.

The prose flowed, the twists were reasonable, and it was all unpredictable. Perfect mix of drama and mystery. Interesting characters and the unknown was placed perfectly out of reach: not confusing, but just enough to keep you guessing. Rare for me to enjoy a book without liking most characters, but Lapena did it well. Great mystery read for those that like a little suspense that won't keep you up at night!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Killer Question

 The Killer Question by Janice Hallett, 448 pages. 

Dominic Eastwood has a pitch for a true crime documentary. In phone conversations, emails, police footage, and other documentation, he pieces together the story of his aunt and uncle, Mal and Sue Eastwood, their oddly cutthroat pub quiz, and the body pulled from the river nearby. How does Sue and Mal's history as police officers (a history they keep secret from their patrons) tie in with a mysterious quiz team and a murder? That is the killer question.

I am normally very into epistolary novels, and the premise for this one sounded really interesting. Unfortunately, I don't think the format really worked in this case. The first section of this book was entirely very petty quiz drama, and it was a long time before this book moved at anything more than a crawl. The only part I found particularly engaging was the conclusion, which did have me at the edge of my seat, and which recontextualized much of the book. This might be interesting for a big pub quiz enjoyer, but I'm afraid it's a bit of a miss otherwise. 

The Girl and the Ghost

 The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf, 280 pages.

Suraya is very young when she inherits a pelesit from her witch grandmother. The ghost, who she names Pink, is her only friend for many years, but Suraya doesn't know that pelesits are dark, mischievous creatures. As she learns that her oldest friend has a side to him she's never seen, she has to find a solution as things keep getting more dangerous, for everyone. 

This was a pretty interesting middle grade book! I don't believe I've ever read a book set in Malaysia, and this one did a great job immersing me in the culture, in both a historical folklore sense and a normal life in the modern day sense. The characters and conflicts were a little simplistic, but that's not unexpected for a middle grade book. I think this exciting, slightly spooky book would be a great choice for middle schoolers, especially those curious about how kids in other countries live.

Question 7

Question 7 by Richard Flanagan (2024) 280pp

Flanagan, winner of the Booker Prize, combines an ode to his father and a brief history of his homeland into a memoir using masterful literary devices and extraordinary writing. Starting with a search for information on the prison camp in Japan where his father was held Flanagan weaves in Rebecca West, H.G. Wells, Leo Szilard, the crew of the Enola Gay, and the indigenous people of Tasmania with a tale of his father and Flanagan’s extended family. The first half of the book startled me with exquisite sentences and leaps of time and place. Only later, when the literary puzzle pieces began to fit tighter, did I realize that this is a reworked compilation of previous writings. My only disappointment was a lengthy description of his near fatal kayak accident -- although critical to the memoir aspect of the book -- it seemed gratuitous and an awkward fit in such an otherwise outstanding book.

Say it loud!

 

Say it loud!: on race, law, history, and culture by Randall Kennedy (2021) 510pp

This compilation of essays by legal scholar Kennedy is a challenging read. Kennedy is not shy about presenting both sides of controversial issues as only a trained advocate can. An argument can be made that his writing veers into obtuse legal jargon, but that is his wheelhouse. The essential quality of his writing is respect -- respect for law, respect for due process, respect for humanity. Randall is conservative in the sense that he does not jump to conclusions without carefully weighing the facts. For instance, in his lengthy chapter on Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (for whom Kennedy clerked) he boldly takes on contradictions and personal idiosyncrasies of the Justice. Early in his career at the NAACP Marshall used the separate but equal ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson to argue cases, but worked tirelessly to overturn that infamous precedent in the groundbreaking Brown v. Board of Education decision. Kennedy illustrates the irascible nature of the justice using his and others’ anecdotes. His most eloquent writing is not about the law, but about history and culture. He dissects subtle internal disagreements among African Americans, such as naming, both collectively and individually, and historical incidents of racism (such as an electrifying chapter on the Nat Turner insurrection) not just legal, but moral. Lastly, he is not just a neutral reporter; he explains his stand in relation to race: why he doesn’t participate in public demonstrations, his annoyance with victimhood, and his personal position on the historical legacy of labeling. In the current climate of scapegoating, name-calling and general incivility Kennedy defines what it means to be a critical thinker.

Watchmen

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, 416 pgs. 

It's New York City in the 1980s. Nuclear war is at the top of international consciousness. Costumed heroes have mostly fallen out of the public eye since they were outlawed in 1977. Both the catalyst and the deterrent of rising nuclear tensions resides in the city in the form of Dr. Manhattan, the world's only crimefighter who possesses superhuman (and seemingly unlimited) power. When heroes from an old group of masked adventurers called the Watchmen start dying under mysterious and violent circumstances, the other former members (disjointedly) reunite to figure out what plot is afoot. Is humanity in danger? Can the Watchmen save it before it's too late? Should they? 

Watchmen is a heavy, very meta superhero story about what it means to be human and what it means to be a hero. The "heroes" in the Watchmen group are all presented as very flawed people who abuse their power, operate outside the law, and oftentimes look down upon those they are supposed to protect. At the same time, a pretty pessimistic view of humanity is presented as the cycle of violence in the story goes round and round like the hands of a clock. Fans of "The Boys" TV show on Amazon Prime, or just of dark, gritty superhero stories chock full of complex characters and symbols, will enjoy this highly acclaimed graphic novel.

All the Devils are Here

All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny, 434 pgs. 

Armand Gamache is content. The Canadian Chief Inspector of Homicide is visiting Paris, and he is with his favorite people--his family. However, Gamache's happiness is shattered when prolific businessman Stephen Horowitz, Gamache's godfather, is hit by a car in a manner that appears purposeful. The Chief Inspector rushes to find out who targeted his beloved mentor and why. In the investigation, no stone is left unturned, and as he works alongside his friend and son-in-law, former Chief Inspector Beauvoir, Gamache uncovers more than he ever expected about Beauvoir's new job, the Parisian police force, and his godfather himself. He never expected that the devils Shakespeare wrote about in The Tempest would be here with him in France. 

Louise Penny has found Gamache again. In taking his character out of Three Pines in this sixteenth book and focusing on family and mystery, she has brought us back to the competent detective we know and love. Gamache's relationships really shine in this novel, especially those between him and his son, Daniel, and him and his father-figure, Stephen. There is so much that Gamache does not know about these men for whom he has such deep love and care, despite their relative closeness. There is always more to uncover, and I am continually excited to learn more about these characters throughout the series. 

We Used to Live Here

 We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer, 312 pages.

Eve is a chronic people-pleaser, so when a family shows up politely asking to show their kids around the father's childhood home she reluctantly agrees, despite her misgivings. Everything starts pretty normal, except that the fifteen minute tour keeps getting longer, and the family doesn't seem in any hurry to leave. Soon little things seem to start changing, and Eve can't tell what is her anxiety and what is something much more sinister. The horrors keep multiplying, and Eve is increasingly unsure what she can trust. 

This book was an atmospheric master class. It was deeply unsettling even before there was anything concrete to be scarred of, which did a great job putting me in Eve's head. That being said, I do wish I understood better what was going on by the end of the book. Vaguely unsettling is very effective for building tension, but it's not a very satisfying payoff. This novel was clearly inspired by Mark Z Danielewski's House of Leaves, and while I didn't find the archival-style material particularly effective in this case, I do still think fans of that book will enjoy this one, as well as fans of the podcast Rabbits. Even feeling slightly disappointed in the tail end, I did still find this a really cool universe-slipping horror novel, and genuinely scary. 

Great Big Beautiful Life

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (2025) 416 pages

Alice grew up loving music that Cosmo Sinclair, an early icon of the rock and roll scene, created. Some of Cosmo's music was written about his wife, Margaret Ives, the great-granddaughter of a publishing magnate based in California. Margaret was big on the social scene until she disappeared, not too long after Cosmo's untimely death in a car accident. 

Alice is a writer for a pop culture magazine, but would love to write something more substantial, like Margaret Ives's biography. She tracks her down to an island off of Savannah, Georgia and is eventually given an invitation to visit. However, Margaret has asked a Pulitzer-prize-winning biographer, Hayden Anderson to try out for the job as well, and gives each of the writers one month to interview her and to make proposals for how they plan to present her life. At that time, she will choose one of them to write her bio. They're required to sign non-disclosure contracts, keeping them from discussing their time with Margaret with anyone, including each other.

Alice and Hayden each have three days per week for meeting with Margaret. They run into each other often on the small island. Alice is cheerful and optimistic; Hayden tends to be much more serious. As they get to know each other, their own relationship grows. As for Margaret's life, it's like a story within a story. Starting with her grand-grandfather, who left Pennsylvania where his large family was quite poor, and found his way out west to mine ore. He started to gain wealth, and later learned that buying up newspapers was even more lucrative. The various siblings, spouses, and lovers in Margaret's family tree makes for drama.

Margaret's story, starting back in the 1800s, was fascinating, but eventually, I found myself more invested in the relationship of Alice and Hayden, and in their own backstories.

Let's Call Her Barbie

Let's Call Her Barbie by Renee Rosen, 432 pages

We all know Barbie, that ubiquitous fashion doll (and movie star) that's been a part of every American girl's toy box or wish list since the 1960s. This book takes readers on a fictionalized history of Barbie's creation at Mattel, including the challenges of creating the doll and her clothes (there's a reason her hands are shaped like that!), of marketing the doll to girls and their mothers, and of the many behind-the-scenes arguments that took place. While some of the real-life characters involved are given a more cursory personality (indeed, it often focuses more on what they did than why), the addition of a fictitious clothing designer made the whole story hit home a little better. No matter what, I'd recommend this to those people who haven't yet tired of the Barbie-mania brought on by the 2023 movie, as that's definitely the audience for this book.

We Had a Hunch

We Had a Hunch by Tom Ryan, 352 pages

Twenty-five years ago, teenage twins Alice and Samantha and their classmate Joey solved helped catch a serial killer, the same one who killed Alice and Samantha's sheriff dad. At that point, they thought they were done with their sleuthing. But now a new murder has occurred in their hometown and brought the trio home. While they all resist the impulse to investigate, they can't help being drawn in by the case, especially as more bodies start to pile up.

The premise of teen detectives returning to the job as adults is a promising one, but unfortunately, this didn't really follow up on it too well. There were several problems in this book, including who the ultimate killer is, though I think that in better hands or with better editing this could've been great. Read the horror novel Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero if you want a better Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys/Bobbsey Twins vibe.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One

Stop Me If You've Heard This One by Kristen Arnett, 272 pages

Professional clown Cherry Hendricks has yet to really make it in her chosen profession (currently she's barely making ends meet through kids' party appearances, a part-time job at an exotic pet store, and, regrettably, making a few bucks from clown fetishists). Doesn't help that her mom doesn't accept that her adult daughter is a clown, or that she still compares Cherry to her late brother. When Cherry has the chance to network with a big magician on the Orlando performers' circuit, she thinks she may finally get her big shot. If she doesn't screw it up first.

A book about a lesbian clown has the potential to be hilariously sarcastic and fun. Unfortunately, this one's mainly pretentious (well, once you get through the going-for-shock-value-only first chapter). Cherry isn't particularly likeable or relatable, and her actions in that first chapter REALLY undercut her later claims to professionalism. Feel free to skip this one.