Into the Drowning Deep

 Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant, 562 pages.

Seven years ago, Victoria Stewart's sister sailed off to film a mocumentary about mermaids. She never came back. The only thing that returned from the ship Atargatis was a lot of frightening footage that was widely decried as a hoax, bloody footage that appeared to show the crew being devoured by mermaids. Years later, the original film company is seeking redemption (or at least a boost for their damaged reputation), and Victoria still wants closure, so she signs on with dozens of other scientists to try to get proof of mermaids once and for all. They end up finding much more than proof. 

This was a spooky little book about mermaids. Mira Grant (a penname for Seanan McGuire) does a good job building fear on top of a situation whose outcome was more-or-less obvious from the beginning. This is a bloody book, but it doesn't feel like it is purely relying on gore for it's punch (although there are a couple of images that will stick with me). The large cast is well-developed, which makes it hurt more when many of them meet their inevitable ends. I would recommend it generally, but especially for fans of scientists walking themselves into horror. 

Running Close to the Wind

 Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland, 437 pages.

Avra Helvaçi has frankly stupid good luck. The kind of good luck that leaves him drunkenly wandering into a secure government building and stealing a state secret that's worth more than many countries, just to see if he can. Unfortunately, once he has it he has to figure out how not to get killed over it. Enter pirate Captain Teveri az-Ḥaffār, his ex who is rudely not even a little excited to see him, but nevertheless is willing to help work out how to sell the secret and make them both legends, even if it means sailing into dangerous seas. 
This is really the epitome of a fun fantasy pirate adventure. There's giant turtles, sea serpents, a giant stone skull, making fools of stuffy government officials, and even a plot relevant cake competition. This book knows exactly what it wants to be, and fulfills it to a tee. It's an extremely fun summer read, with very fun characters. My only major gripe is that the ending feels a little bit sudden and unsatisfactory, I feel like this novel would have been improved by an epilogue. 

The Long Way Home

 

The Long Way Home by Louise Penny, 373 pgs.

Former Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is supposed to be retired. Too soon, though, he is pulled back into the world of investigation when longtime friend to the Gamaches, Clara Morrow, asks for help. Clara's husband, Peter, has gone missing, and her Three Pines community rallies to her aide. As the search begins, the Three Pines crew wonders what they will find along the way, and if--in fact--they are doing more harm than good in moving forward. 

As a follow-up to the nail-biting action of How the Light Gets In, this story feels a bit slower, but it is always nice to be back in a Three Pines mystery. In this one, we get to know more about Clara and Peter's college life, and we get to see Armand's wife, Rene-Marie, start to have a bit more of a role. Art lovers and Clara-and-Peter fans will enjoy this one.

A selection of June graphic novels

The Man in the McIntosh Suit by Rina Ayuyang (2023) 212 pages

1929, Bobot is one of many Filipino-Americans working as migrant fruit pickers in rural California. The synopsis on the back cover sells it as a "take on Depression-era noir featuring mistaken identities, speakeasies, and lost love." I never got the feel of noir. It starts a bit like a Steinbeck story. It is about immigrant dreams and whites not being welcoming. Bobot finds Manilatown in San Francisco as he searches for his wife, so most of the characters are Filipino-American. There is mistaken identity, a gangster owned speakeasy, and Bobot's lost love, but none of it developed as expected. Ultimately, that is a good thing. I was willing to go on the story's journey. How and why Bobot was misled into traveling to San Fran, the unexpected queer elements, and the A side and B side of music tracks from the 1920s provided as suggested listening made it an enjoyable read. The art feels like rough sketches and most sections are in a monochrome smudgy blue. I didn't like it at first (I think it is the main thing that doesn't read as noir), but I let my harsh judgment fade. The cover seemed more action packed and looks good with the multi-color scheme, but don't expect that on the inside and some surprises are in store for you.

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (2020) 256 pages

The art style is so crisp and clear. And the color tells you exactly where you are in the story. Red for present day. Yellow for memories. And Purple for the fairy tale stories. The flow of thoughts, speech, and action on each page is so well done as well. Young Tien helping his parents, his mother in particular, learn English by reading fairy tales together works brilliantly. I appreciated the Author's Note and Between Words and Pictures essay at the end, the experiences of Vietnamese immigrants that are personal to the author and the fairy tales all blend very well. Two variations on a Cinderella tale are each distinct enough and full of surprises. Then a Little Mermaid tale is shared. Meanwhile, Tien is uncertain how to tell his parents that he is gay. His two best friends at school are accepting of who he is. When his parents are still more comfortable speaking Vietnamese and Tien has grown up with English, how do you communicate? The answer could lie in fairy tales!

ODY-C: Cycle One by Matt Fraction with art by Christian Ward (2016) 400 pages

I'll start by writing about the bonus essays at the end. The Kyklos: The Making of ODY-C is a treasure. I really appreciated Dani Colman's multiple essays. Anybody reading the full The Odyssey would also gain a deeper appreciation of Homeric verse, manly tears, the role of wives, the parallels between Penelope and Scheherazade, how storytelling changes lives, narrators, Clytaemnestra, and gender bending. I love that Dani describes the graphic adaptation as "less a gender-bent Odyssey than it is an Odyssey-flavored gender pretzel." ODY-C: Cycle One is kaleidoscopic. It is gruesome. It is X-rated at times. Not so different from The Odyssey. This version takes place in space with aliens and future tech for a twist. Issues 1-5 adapt the first part of Homer's epic poem. Further issues to adapt the rest of The Odyssey were planned at one point, but now almost ten years later a continuation seems unclear. Issues 6-10 will remind most readers of the 1001 Arabian Nights. Then issues 11-12, in a rhyming rap style, retells the story of the play Agamemnon. It is all still about gods and mortals, murder and revenge, sex and revenge, monsters and blood. The art is glorious. There are many two-page spreads that are mind-blowing.

Strange Fruit by J.G. Jones and Mark Waid (2017) 128 pages

Jones' art perfectly captures the Norman Rockwell aesthetic. And in the midst of this historical "Great Mississippi Flood" of 1927 with the KKK active in Chatterlee, Mississippi, a Superman arrives from outer space. This Superman is black and doesn't arrive as a baby. There are many racist slurs that the whites aim at the blacks. The knowledge of a black engineer from up north combined with the strength of the Superman is able to prevent the flooding Mississippi from destroying the whole town. Then, in a newsreel, Herbert Hoover takes credit. This is a solid historical fantasy, but it is only four issues and is over too soon.

Earthdivers, Vol. 1: Kill Columbus by Stephen Graham Jones with art by Davide Gianfelice (2023) 176 pages

I love the concept and will continue with the other volumes in this series. However, there are many moving pieces in the present 2112 and the past 1492 that are not completely clear. Different voices and narration as distinct from all the characters are something Stephen Graham Jones struggles with in this book. Time travel is timey-wimey, of course. It is weird that I would ask for more exposition, but I wish there was more introductory character development and world building. It is a bloody adventure right from the start. I like the talking goat, but there are many fantasy things like that, which come out of left field. So many strange phenomena are stacked on top of each other. Then history or fate is a strong force that resists change, but not really, and yet our hero fails at a larger goal even as he succeeds at the smaller goal. Such a bummer.

The Book of (More) Delights

 The Book of (More) Delights by Ross Gay, 304 pages.

This follow-up to Gay's The Book of Delights comes five years after the first volume, and follows the exact same formula. Poet Ross Gay handwrites a new essay everyday about something that delighted him that day. Some of these are things that are very obviously delightful, such as the joy of shared fruit and tiny dogs, and some of them are things that take a unique perspective to find delight in darkness.  

I found this volume a little less focused then the first one, but still (if you'll forgive me the pun) delightful. I continue to find Gay's perspective inspirational, to the point where I've decided to try this project for myself this year. I do think there was a little more darkness in this one, to the point where it was sometimes easy to miss where the delight was supposed to be in the entry. That being said, even the less delight-full entries were still solid essays that were good to read. I would recommend this to fans of the first book, but I do think I would still recommend starting with that one.  

P.S. I love this book cover so much. Please take a moment to admire it.

The Pairing

 The Pairing by Casey McQuiston, 432 pages.

When Theo and Kit messily break up on the transatlantic to a three week European food and wine tour it seems to finally be a definitive end to a lifelong relationship. Four years later, right as the voucher they both received to reschedule the trip is about to expire, both decide, completely independently, to use it before it's gone. Now they're trapped together for three weeks being crushed under the weight of everything that came before. But they've both moved on, their completely over each other. To prove how completely over each other they are, they decide to have a European hook-up competition. This is a romance novel, and that ends pretty much as expected for these two messy bisexual exes. 

Casey McQuiston is perhaps one of my most trusted romance authors at this point. This book is delightful and funny, while also having a strong heart at the center that turns the whole thing into something better. I really loved all of these characters, and the food descriptors are enough to make my mouth water. An ideal summer read, I would definitely recommend it. 

Always and Forever, Lara Jean

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han, 336 pgs.

High school is coming to an end, and Lara Jean is looking forward to the next four years at her dream school--with her dream guy! She will soon realize, though, that her future is not yet set in stone. Between applying for schools, going to lacrosse games, planning a wedding, and baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie, Lara Jean has a lot on her plate (literally and figuratively). As she tries to make the most of her time with her boyfriend, friends, and family before graduation, Lara Jean must also figure out what she wants to do next. 

It is tough being a senior--caught in the balance between enjoying the present and planning for the future--and this book captures that struggle well. Jenny Han ends the To All the Boys I've Loved Before series on a high note of nostalgia and growth and good vibes (mixed with some expected angst). Change is hard but also good.

To Catch a Thief

 

To Catch a Thief by David Dodge (1952) 281pp

This thriller has been re-issued under the Library of Congress Crime Classics imprint thanks to an initiative by recently fired Librarian of Congress Carla D. Hayden who also writes the forward to the novel. The story is a step back in time and takes the reader to the post-World War II French Riviera describing the period in charming detail and a surprising innocence. No car chases, shootings or violence – a different era. However, it does subtly evoke the war with the backstory of the camaraderie of the French Resistance. John Robie a notorious jewel thief, known as "Le Chat" ("The Cat") has retired from a life of crime after getting caught, sent to prison, released from captivity by the German occupiers, fighting with the Resistance and finally given a conditional amnesty for services rendered. His quiet retired life on the Riviera is interrupted when a series of high-profile thefts using his modus operandi take place. Robie fears for his freedom and knows he must stop the literal copy cat before the police falsely implicate him. Intrigue ensues as Robie dons a disguise, contacts his former resistance mates, ingratiates himself into the social scene on the coast and pursues the imposter. Ever so slowly Robie’s backstory is revealed as he follows the cat burglar, culminating in a pearl-clutching roof-top finale.  Readers may be familiar with the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock film adaptation starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.

The Martian Chronicles

 The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (1946-1950) 182 pages

I listened to the audiobook on Hoopla narrated by Mark Boyett. This is a series of short stories that are loosely connected around Earth people colonizing Mars. Some short stories I would give 4 out of 5 stars, some I would give 3 stars, and some 2 stars. In my opinion it averages to 3 out of 5 stars. "There Will Come Soft Rains" is often considered a top example of Bradbury's work here. It reminded me of Percy Shelley's "Ozymandias" poem. In an automated home the owners and neighbors are gone. There is no one left to fix the technology or stop the flames when a fire starts. I got a kick out of the story "Usher," which is a homage to Edgar Allan Poe and Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney. A wealthy man loves these horror books and movie that have been banned by those "protecting" civilized society. Fans of Tim Burton creations will enjoy this dark tale too. Some of the other stories express interesting thoughts about colonization. Some are quite dated. There are evidently editions of this that push the years that these stories happen back thirty years. This audiobook used the original text. So, all these events are imagined to take place from 1999 to 2026.

Autocracy, Inc.

Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum (2024) 207 pp

I finished reading this just in time for the “No Kings” protests being held across the US. This short volume is a polemic and an accurate one. Applebaum spells out the way authoritarians have undercut norms, imposed draconian limits on their citizens, and promoted conspiracies all in an effort to garner power and riches. Kleptocracy and autocracy work to enable greed and empower the corrupt despots.

Applebaum calls out the naiveté of the liberal west for thinking and proclaiming that the internet and the interconnected global economy would be impossible to contain and that democratic ideals would spread — controlling the internet would be like, as Bill Clinton said, “trying to nail jello to the wall”.  But history has shown that the internet has been used (abused?) to spread disinformation, conspiracies and mistrust in democracies. And economic cooperation with rogue states is a zero sum game. The primary weakness here is a lack of historical context — in this case an overview of “why do they hate us so much” in regards to imperialism, unfettered capitalism, slavery and the colonial outrages foisted on, as per the current phraseology, “the global south”.

Meditations for Mortals

Mediations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts, by Olive Burkeman, © 2025, 208 pgs.

I'm a sucker for the occasional self-help book but about 90% of the time they tend to be very tedious reading or not really well-written and I end up putting them back on the shelf. This one was a great surprise and one that demanded to be read--it feels less like reading and more like having a nice chat with a good friend. Burkeman is quick to point out that this is not a "how-to" book--there is no list to follow in order to achieve instant life-changing nirvana--those books rarely work. This is a down-to-earth guide on learning to use what we have, let go of what we don't need and doing things that really matter to you in the brief amount of time we all have on this Earth. Instead of being a cheerleading kind of book, the author reminds us that our time is infinite and true happiness comes from learning how to use the time we have in order to get the most out of our lives and ourselves. The book is separated into short chapters and is meant to be read a chapter per day, allowing you to finish the book in four weeks at a leisurely pace that also allows time for the reader to engage in thoughtful reflection. Of particular note is a chapter on staying sane when the world's a mess--useful advice in some troubling times. 

P.S. I Still Love You

 

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han, 337 pgs.

Lara Jean Song Covey is back for another semester of junior year--this time with a boyfriend! She is finally living out her dreams of having a real-life romance, but between the drama of last semester, "advice" from her heartbroken sister, and the re-emergence of old crushes and exes, everything is not quite as magical as she had hoped. 

It is nice to be back in the To All the Boys I've Loved Before universe. Lara Jean continues to make mistakes--like any other high schooler (or adult for that matter)--but really tries her best to take care of her family and herself. This is a fun summer YA romance and a great continuation from the first book. 

The Author's Guide to Murder

 

The Author's Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White (2024) 404 pages

Three [real] women authors collaborate to write a mystery about three women authors who are collaborating on a book based on people who lived in a castle in Scotland where a murder occurred 100 years ago. The three fictional authors are quite different from each other: Kat de Noir writes erotica, Cassie Pringle, mother of 6 kids, is juggling multiple mystery series, but seems to most relish her series with cats and cooking, and Emma Endicott writes historical fiction that is extremely well-researched and foot-noted. The women end up going to Castle Kinloch on a remote island in Scotland. A male author, Brett Saffron Presley has leased the castle and turned it into a resort for writers. BSP, as he is referred to, has made it clear that he will not be meeting with the writers that attend. It soon becomes clear that each of the women writers has a unpleasant history with BSP, but their stories take some time to unfurl.

The nearby town is small and not all the residents enjoy the American women's presence. The women don't always get along with each other, either, so there's more than a spot of conflict among them. And when BSP is found dead, they are all suspects. The point of view changes from chapter to chapter, and several of the chapters begin with one of them being questioned by Detective Chief Inspector Euan Macintosh. When the women decide to try to solve the murder themselves, to clear their names, they don't always make the best decisions, but the mystery does get solved. I enjoyed the "meta" nature of the work, as well as the different personalities of all the characters.

How the Light Gets In

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny, 404 pgs.

A government employee grasps her steering wheel in a death grip, contemplating the huge secret she is about to bring to light. An inspector falls further and further into the depths of addiction, pushing away everyone he once loved. A police chief watches his once close-knit team fall apart. A former team-member rots in the cyber crimes division. A former superintendent rots in jail. Everything at the Surete seems to be careening simultaneously toward a cliff, but no one seems to know what lies below. It is up to Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his unorthodox team to figure out what is going on and how to stop it, before it is too late. 

Every book in the series thus far has led to this point. Fissures that appeared as hints in previous stories have grown into full-blown cracks threatening to crumble everything that Gamache knows. Penny masterfully builds tension throughout this novel, keeping readers on the edge of their seats as they figure out the dual mysteries through Gamache's eyes. The best in the series so far :)

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han, 368 pgs.

Lara Jean has never had a boyfriend, but she has had five great loves in her 16 years of living. For each of the boys she has loved, Lara Jean has written one letter to contain her deep feelings. She never intended for her letters to be read--for her feelings to be reciprocated or even known at all--but one day, she finds that they have all been sent, and their recipients have questions for her. Now, all of a sudden, Lara Jean is not only forced to deal with her new role as the oldest girl at home (while her older sister is in Europe for college), but she is also forced to confront the other side of her one-sided love stories. Could the life she has only fantasized about be hers for real? 

As a fan of the movie, I knew most of what I was getting into before I started reading, but I was still pleasantly surprised. It is nice getting to know Lara Jean's thoughts and anxieties through her point of view, as well as seeing more of her relationships with her sisters. Jenny Han captures the awkward teenage girl experience well. Lovers of YA Romance will enjoy this new(er) classic.

The Spy and I

The Spy and I by Tiana Smith (2024) 331 pages

Dove Barkley and her look-alike sister Madison were very close growing up because they only had each other. Now that they're adults, Dove is an introverted nerd who works as a cyber-security consultant, hacking into corporate computers in order to assess how secure they are. Madison travels as a photographer, or at least Dove thought so, until she's interviewed by a man who seems more interested in her sister's activities than her own. A few hours later, when Dove is waiting to meet her sister in a restaurant, a man comes to her table with  a briefcase, makes cryptic comments which suggest he thinks she is Madison, and then he is shot dead. Dove flees with the briefcase, just happening to find the same man who had interviewed her earlier, who whisks her away from danger on a motorcycle to a safe house. The man says his real name is Mendez and that he works in the CIA with Madison's sister, and that Madison is in hiding. Well, things are not exactly what they seem, and Dove doesn't know what to think of her sister, or whether to trust Mendez, even as she starts fantasizing about him. 

Before you know it, they're on a private jet to Prague, to see if they can take down a weapons dealer that Madison was investigating, a guy who's got a mole in the CIA headquarters. Dove needs to lead the dealer to think she is Madison. Dove is smart and gutsy even though she is scared silly for her sister and herself, which makes her character believable. Although I know little about the inner workings of computers, I found myself impressed with her data manipulations. This was a quick read with a somewhat crazy plot that I found entertaining and suspenseful in turns.