The Summer Guests

The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen, 363 pages

In the beautiful small town of Purity, Maine, there's a stark divide between the year-round residents and the "summer guests," the wealthy tourists who only come in the summer months to visit their palatial "cottages." When one of those summer guests, a 15-year-old girl disappears, acting sheriff Jo Thibodeau must put all of her few resources into tracking down the girl, including searching the lake. What Jo doesn't expect to find, however, is the skeleton of another woman, one who disappeared decades earlier. Faced with two mysteries, Jo must turn to ex-spy Maggie and her small band of former spook pals to help investigate.

While the setting, the plot, and the characters were all complex and enjoyable, this is the second book of the series (following The Spy Coast), and since I hadn't read the first one, I definitely felt I was missing some background as I was reading. However, it was a lot of fun, and I fully intend to read book 1 when I get a chance.

The Killer Question

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett, 448 pages

Sue and Mal Eastwood are living out a second career as proprietors of The Case Is Altered, a struggling, off-the-beaten-path pub. The only thing that's really helping them thrive is a weekly pub quiz, with bespoke questions created by quizmaster Mal (none of those "from a book" questions for him!). Business seems to be improving until a body turns up in the nearby canal, and it's a man who had been kicked out of the pub quiz earlier that evening. Around the same time, a mysterious new trivia team shows up and starts beating the locals EVERY TIME with nearly perfect scores, baffling Sue and Mal and frustrating the other teams to no end. So there are two mysteries here — who killed the guy in the canal and how the heck is this new team winning??

Told in a modern epistolary style — emails, texts, transcripts of interviews and recordings — and presented as a pitch for a Netflix true crime documentary series, this is a fast-moving book that doesn't necessarily follow a linear timeline. Rather, it pops back in time to give more details the same way that one of those, well, Neflix true crime documentaries does. There are definitely some elements that didn't work for me (why did the conversations between spouses have to be via text?) and the final twist didn't seem to have a whole lot of clues leading up to it, but overall it was a lot of fun.

This Is Not a Game

This Is Not a Game by Kelly Mullen, 320 pages

When widow Mimi received an invite to socialite Jane Ireland's charity auction, her inclination is to say no. Despite being neighbors on small, car-free Mackinac Island, they've never been friends and Mimi's always though Jane's relationship with her son-in-law was just too scandalous for words. But along with the invitation, Mimi also gets a threat to buy a specific item or have her deepest secret revealed. Mimi invites her game-designer granddaughter Addie along for moral support, but when Jane turns up dead before the evening is over, Addie's amateur sleuthing skills and love of classic murder mysteries comes in handy. Especially once the party becomes snowbound and everyone in attendance is a suspect.

Set in a grand mansion complete with a conservatory, study, lounge, observatory, basement speakeasy, and secret passages, and with an eclectic group of party guests in themed period costume, this homage to Clue could easily be a cheap imitation of the classic movie and board game, especially once the blackmail element enters the scene. However, the well-plotted clues and red herrings, as well as Addie's game-design background, keep the story fresh and captivating. I had the hardest time settling on whodunnit, switching my guess from chapter to chapter as more information was revealed, and honestly didn't guess the outcome (though looking back, the clues were there — I just missed them in all the other information!). An excellent throwback to classic locked-room mysteries, highly recommended.

A selection of October graphic novels

 Monet: Itinerant of Light by Salva Rubio with art by Ricard Efa (2017) 112 pages

Captures the Impressionist style in the backgrounds of comic panels. Really explores the starving artist trials of Monet. He was often rebellious of authority, but with this graphic bio being so short, you are mostly struck by how often Monet and his family were struggling to make ends meet with his irregular income as a painter. I read it on an older Kindle from Libby, which isn't as great at being able to zoom in on small text boxes or bubbles.

Mary Shelly: Monster Hunter Vol. 1 by Adam Glass and Olivia Cuartero-Briggs with art by Hayden Sherman (2019) 120 pages

Fun! Interesting Frankenstein pastiche. It combines the night Mary and Byron and the others had their horror writing competition with Mary meeting a woman Dr. Frankenstein, who is trying to create a man who is a protector of women. The series starts off promisingly with the art conveying the Romantic and Gothic nature of the time period, and the writing making use of increased feminist themes. But the last issue does not end in a way that was satisfying to me.

The Tomb of Dracula: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 by Gerry Conway, Marv Wolfman, et al. (2017) 507 pages

Comics of the '70s feel a bit too much like soap operas for my taste. The art is sometimes too busy and hastily finished. Still, the continuity and character development are strong as it moves forward. Blade is introduced in this series. Great twists and turns for the imagination. I like the black and white art and stories through time of the Dracula Lives! series in the second half better than the first half. That is with the exception of the story set in Hollywood, which is cynical in the worst way. 

Monstress, Book One by Marjorie M. Liu with art by Sana Takeda (2019) 521 pages

Epic! I'm glad I picked this edition that includes issues 1 through 18. No other ending point would have felt conclusive. The fantasy elements are stronger than the steampunk elements until it gets into the later issues. I love the world building. I love the matriarchal society. The writing and art are so well matched. Maika and Kippa are great characters. Kippa is like Jiminy Cricket, a conscience for  Maika who has a monster inside her. Ren, the cat, and later Zinn, an old god, are created with fantastic complexity too. This book is full of stunning visuals and sometimes gruesome, bloody horrors. Figuring out who are Maika's allies and who are her enemies is difficult. Many different factors are intertwined in the plot. Five stars!

Coup de Grâce

 Coup de Grâce by Sofia Ajram, 139 pages.

Vicken steps off the metro on his way to his suicide and finds himself not near the St. Lawrence River, but in an incomprehensible structure of seemingly infinite architecture. It is a place seemingly designed for people, but conspicuously empty, and filled instead with a creeping sense of wrongness that threatens to swallow him forever.

This strange, experimental novel is twisty in a way that is frequently hard to follow. It's unsettling and weird, but I also found it very compelling at times. A good spooky season read.

Trust

 Trust by Hernan Diaz, 402 pages.

This nested novel is divided into four fictional books. The first is a novel that is a fictionalized account of a New York financier and his wife. The second is an incomplete autobiography from the real man himself, attempting to correct the slanders of the novel and paint himself in a better light. The third is an essay from the ghostwriter of that autobiography, at the time a young woman just starting out, but now an aged author at the end of a brilliant career. The final, shortest section, is the journal of the financier's wife, whose life has been reinterpreted by so many people. Throughout these narratives more truth emerges from the contrasts, as no one person's story can be complete, as much as power would like it to be so.

This novel was very well-written, which unfortunately couldn't make up for the fact that I found it interminably boring. It turns out reading well over a hundred pages of a biography of a fictional financier with no real hobbies of meaningful connections is not any more interesting than reading that of a real one. The mystery the synopsis promised is not as large or dramatic as implied, and the ways each narrator was unreliable were generally easy to spot. Overall this felt like a solid concept that didn't turn out to be as interesting in execution as I may have hoped. 

The Light Eaters

 The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger, 304 pages.

Journalist Zoë Schlanger dives into the rapidly emerging, and highly controversial, field of plant intelligence. She focuses especially on plant communication and problem solving, both topics notable for how poorly they are understood, and for how quickly new information is being added. She also focuses on the scientists making these breakthroughs, the biologists who risk academic exile for researching things that seem to go against the way we understand plants. 

This was a fascinating book! Although it felt at times like it focused more on academic politics than I may have preferred, I still left with a plethora of astounding plant facts, in addition to a broader understanding of the field of research. This is definitely the kind of nature writing that leaves the reader with a lot of big questions to think on, which I always find impressive. I would recommend this book broadly to anyone with an interest in plants, but especially for fans of Ed Yong's An Immense World. 

A Very Bad Thing

A Very Bad Thing by J.T. Ellison, 495 pages

Bestselling novelist Columbia Jones never gives interviews, limits public appearances to short bookstore tours when each title is released. Yet for her newest novel, she's asked a single investigative journalist to accompany on her publicity tour, offering an exclusive, in-depth interview and profile. Just as the tour wraps up and journalist Riley is getting ready for her final interview before writing and publishing the profile, Columbia is found dead in her hotel room. That's shocking enough, but when Riley learns she's been named as a beneficiary in Columbia's will, Columbia's carefully constructed personal history begins to unwind, in shocking and often confusing ways.

It's hard  to talk about this book without giving away all of the twists and turns. I'll just say that it was a propulsive story that makes you question how much you can trust the public persona of anyone famous, yet manages to do so without making the celebrity a true villain. It's twisty and kept me guessing throughout.

If We Were Villains

 If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio, 354 pages.

Seven aspiring Shakespearean actors at an exclusive arts school have spent four years growing deeply entwined with each other. Through the years the roles they play onstage on offstage have blurred and grown deeply entangled. When one of their own dies, all of the bitter feelings and guilt begin to poison the survivors, as they have to convince not only the police they are guiltless, but also themselves. Oliver Marks has just finished serving a ten year sentence for his classmates murder, and he is finally ready to tell the truth to the retiring police officer who has been haunted by the case all these years. 

This book feels, in many ways, like a love letter to The Secret History by Donna Tartt. That being said, I actually liked this book better than that foundational text of the dark academia genre. Rio did a masterful job creating in the reader the feelings of the characters, transferring an atmosphere that was frequently both suffocating and frantic. I also found the tension between the characters conforming to their assigned archetypes and existing as complete people fascinating. It also feels worth mentioning that I have been thinking about the end of this book since I finished it a few weeks ago. I would heavily recommend this as a tense, character-driven drama. 

Slade House

Slade House by David Mitchell, 241 pages.

A precious teenager and his mother go to visit a lady in her house through a gate that only sometimes exists. A police officer comes investigating a tip on a long cold disappearance case. A group of college students investigates the paranormal in a mysterious alley. A reporter searches desperately for any sign of her long missing sister. All go into Slade House, none come out. Every nine years the house needs a soul, and it will not go hungry. 

This was a really interesting novel. Every nine years we follow a different perspective, so the audience slowly understands more of what is going on even if the protagonists do not. It was very satisfying to see the pieces start clicking into place as the picture moves from being completely baffling to totally understandable. A pretty neat little novel overall. 

Ceremony

Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko (1977) 244 pages

This is historical fiction from an Indigenous perspective. Tayo is a young man who has returned from WWII, from the Bataan Death March specifically, with serious PTSD. He has been raised by his Aunt and Uncle for many years. He went to serve in the military with his cousin, who is like a brother. His brother, the star athlete and perfect son, does not return from the war. Tayo doesn't fit in the Laguna Pueblo community, being only half Indigenous. The novel is not divided into chapters. There are section breaks and occasional poems. We jump from the present to different times in the past. Sometimes the memories are reflected through Tayo being drunk and sometimes through fever dreams while Tayo is sick. In the middle of the book I found it difficult to follow the changing points of view and time periods. It ends strongly though. Tayo seeks an Indigenous medicine man who helps him connect to his heritage. The man's healing ceremony helps Tayo in a way the white culture's medicine could not. Tayo's Uncle bought a herd of Mexican cattle that he expects will be better adapted to the desert environment on the reservation. The cattle escape and head back south before ever making it to the Uncle's farm (although they are already branded by Tayo's family). As he heals, Tayo goes on a quest to find the cattle and recover his Uncle's lost dream. The whole novel is a journey of self-discovery.

 

The Road to Tender Hearts

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett, 384 pages

PJ Halliday's life has been in a bit of a rut over the last decade. Sure, he won $1.5 million in scratch-off lottery tickets, but he also hasn't processed the grief of losing his eldest daughter 15 years ago or dealt with his wife leaving him for the birder next door, and he got enough DUIs to have his license revoked for 8 years. So when he learns that his high school crush is now a widow, he decides to take a cross-country road trip to try again to woo her. Complicating matters is the fact that he's suddenly become the guardian of his estranged brother's grandkids, but hey, why not take two newly orphaned fourth graders (both of whom are dealing with the shocking loss of their parents in wildly different ways) on a road trip to a the faraway Tender Hearts Retirement Community?

The description of this book sounds like a mess, and yeah, it kind of is, but in the best possible way. I love the way that Hartnett depicts grief at all ages and stages with kindness and occasional (but appropriate) humor, and I love the way this weird family grows both as a group and as individuals. And I think the fact the death-detecting cat doesn't top my list of why this book is fantastic is pretty telling, as in most books, that would be the best part. Highly recommended.

Booked for Murder

Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson, 336 pages

Madeline Brimley was a bit surprised when her eccentric Aunt Rose willed her house/bookstore to Madeline, especially since it's in the tiny Georgia town that Maddy has avoided since she left years ago to pursue an acting career. But since Maddy has hit that "too old to be an ingenue, too young to be a character actress" age, the roles have dried up and she's willing to head home and give the bookstore a try. Unfortunately, as soon as she returns to town, she's met with mysterious fires and threatening phone calls, as well as the news that, in order to inherit, she has to stay for a full year. When things finally escalate to a murder in her parlor, Madeline has had enough, and is determined to figure out exactly who doesn't want her around and why.

This was a good, quick cozy mystery, full of viable suspects, twists, and turns. It's not exactly the best mystery I've read this year, but it is a fun way to spend an afternoon, and perfect for anyone who's ever dreamed of opening a quirky bookstore.

Cooking the Books

Cooking the Books by Kerry Greenwood (2011) 270 pages

Corinna Chapman is an accountant-turned-bread maker, who has her own shop‒Earthly Delights‒in Melbourne, Australia. It has been a while since I read a book in this series, and I had forgotten how the author draws one in, giving Corinna's schedule, getting up before dawn, getting a bite to eat and going downstairs to her bakery to let the Mouse Police outside after a night protecting her pantry. One gets into the cadence of her life in a soothing way. Her sweetheart, Daniel, is in and out, investigating a loss of financial papers worth a lot of money. The accounting intern who left them in a phone booth is being bullied by the company she worked for. A homeless man found the papers and hid them, but gives Daniel nursery rhyme-type clues to keep him on his toes. Corinna is a good resource to help Daniel decode the hints. Corinna's accounting background is also a huge help for Daniel's investigation.

Meanwhile, Corinna's shop is closed for the holidays, and her young assistant baker is taking a holiday out of town, learning to surf, while also working. She's a bit concerned that he won't return. The two young women who help her with sales in the shop are extremely excited to have landed parts in a TV soap opera. An old schoolmate of Corinna's, Tommy, has landed the catering job for the film crew and coerces Corinna into helping her out while her shop is closed. A lot is happening: Tricks are being played on the top actress in the production, a woman who is terribly difficult to deal with. There are concerns that these tricks could turn deadly. The actress herself is said to have a child she gave up for adoption years ago. Perhaps the child is now a young adult on this film site?

The Corinna Chapman books don't have to be read in order, but the events in her life, and the people who live and work in her building, whom we get to know over time, are better appreciated in a chronological way.

The Socialite's Guide to Murder

The Socialite's Guide to Murder by S.K. Golden (2022) 306 pages

The socialite is Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy, a young woman whose father owns the Pinnacle Hotel. Evelyn hasn't left the hotel in 14 months and rationalizes that she has no need to do so, for everything she could want is in this upscale hotel. It's 1958 and she's the "girlfriend" of Henry Fox, a gay actor who is her best friend. She has another good friend at the hotel‒Mac‒who's a bellhop who walks her dog Presley and helps to pick locks for her snooping, as needed.

The hotel is the site for a party for artist Billie Bell, who plans to unveil his latest masterpiece, but when the drape is removed, the painting is missing. Later, Evelyn discovers the artist himself has been murdered. Evelyn, who reads Agatha Christie and other prominent mystery writers of the time, is determined to solve the theft and the murder and to win over Police Detective Hodgson, who has failed to appreciate her at all.

The novel portrays agoraphobia in the self-obsessed (and dog-obsessed) title character believably. I'm not sure whether I'll read other titles in the Pinnacle Hotel Mystery series, but maybe...

Rusty Brown

Rusty Brown by Chris Ware, 356 pgs. 

Loneliness. Sadness. Snow.
Rusty Brown, our titular character, is a young boy attempting to escape his isolation and bullying through his love of superheroes--namely Supergirl. Other characters we see facing their own struggles with belonging include Woody Brown, Rusty's father; Joanna Cole, Rusty's teacher; Chalky White and his sister Alison, the new kids at Rusty's school; and Jordan "Jason" Lint, Rusty's bully. This graphic novel is defined by its particular art style and dark themes.

I have some mixed feelings about this book. First, it can be hard to read--both literally and emotionally. As someone who has not read many graphic novels, the changing organization and small segments often left me a bit confused as to which panel to read next. Then, the themes are very heavy throughout the narrative, with little positive reprieve for the reader. The majority of this book oozes toxic masculinity--purposefully--and at times it is hard to tell if the author is attempting to justify the characters' views or simply presenting why they are the way they are. It is certainly an empathetic story, but I found it frustrating being forced to consider the world through a misogynistic lens. Perhaps, though, that is the point.
The last story, however, is markedly different. In it, we learn more about Joanna Cole, Rusty's teacher, who deals with isolation and racism as a Black teacher in a mostly white school. After such deep, specific dives into the psyches of previous white, male characters, it felt like Joanna's section was missing a certain depth. It seemed like the author gave Joanna certain personality traits, but he still didn't have as strong of a sense of her full personality, and after the deeply intense dives into previous characters, it fell a bit flat.
On the positive end, though, there are some really beautiful pages and panels, and the stories evoke some very powerful emotions. I have definitely thought a lot about this book since finishing it, and it is very highly critically reviewed. 

From Bad to Cursed

 From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper, 368 pages.

Isidora Avramov is the child of a family of powerful necromancers, one of the four founding families of the the witchy town of Thistle Grove as a matter of fact. She has a passion for demon summoning, fashion design, and rescuing small animals. When a witch from the rival Thorn family is attacked by a mysterious curse during a Beltane event she is suddenly forced into the role of detective as well, to clear her family's name for the necromantic hex. The Thorn representative assigned to help for the investigation is of course no other than Rowan Thorn, hated nemesis and general good-two-shoes. But as they spend time together the loathing quickly starts to bleed away, leaving room for something new. 

This was a surprisingly good mystery for a romance novel. The plot was interesting, the romance wasn't bad, and the setting was neat. I don't know if this is a book that's worth writing home about, but I enjoyed it. 

Wind and Truth

 Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson, 1330 pages.

This book marks the end of the first arc of the Stormlight Archive, and ties the many interwoven threads to their conclusion. It is difficult both to summarize the fifth book in a series, and also one that is well over 1000 pages, so I'm going to be very brief. This book takes place in the 10 days between the agreement between Dalinar and the god Odium at the end of the last book, and the contest that they agreed upon. Both sides are desperately trying to gain or keep ground before borders solidify at the time of the contest. Meanwhile, others seek answers from the ancient past and the Heralds to find any long-term advantage against Odium. 

For the first section of this book I finally experienced some of the issues that people who don't like these books have complained about. There was a perspective character whose story I didn't care much about, and I was impatient to get back to story lines I cared more about, while also feeling like the perspectives shifted a little to fast to really settle into any story. That being said, once it hit its stride I found myself completely hooked as usual. There were a whole lot of really standout scenes in this book, in addition to the answers to many deep lore questions. I love that characters in this series, which despite being classic high fantasy is ultimately about mental health, are able to not only make meaningful progress, but to maintain that growth from book to book. The end of this book managed to really surprise me, and I am ready to settle into the expected tragically long wait until book six. 

On Mars

 On Mars by Sylvain Runberg and Grun, 180 pages.

Earth is dying, and the colonization of Mars is humanity's bright, shining hope. A hope that is propped up by the forced labor and many, many deaths of the many criminals sent to the planet. But there are many factions on Mars with different dreams from the planet, from gangs of escaped prisoners to a new age cult that helps to pacify the work force. 

This comic had such a good premise, but I unfortunately found the execution pretty lackluster. The villains were one-note and predictable, with very little humanity or depth to them. Many of the most interesting concepts were also the least explored, leaving what ends up being mostly stock characters. I also found the end of the book deeply unsatisfying. In a flooded niche of sci-fi, this is not a standout example. 

System Collapse

 System Collapse by Martha Wells, 245 pages.

Murderbot is still stuck on the planet from Network Effect, trying to make sure the abandoned colonists don't end up scooped into de facto slavery or some other terrible corporate fate at the hands of the Barish-Estranza corporation. Unfortunately, it still hates planets, and the fact that it's still reeling from the traumatic events of the last book sure aren't helping. It has to find some way to get itself back under control, or a whole lot of humans are going to pay the price.

It was neat to get another story so quickly following the last one chronologically! I also really enjoyed the non-standard climax of this book, which ends not so much in a huge battle, but something more creative. 

The (Most Unusual) Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy

The (Most Unusual) Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish, 384 pages

Since he was a teen, Edgar Lovejoy has seen ghosts, often when he's least expecting them. They terrify him, and it's made going to big public places really difficult, especially in a city with as much history as New Orleans. But when his coworkers do convince him to do a bit of socializing at a club, he's captivated by nonbinary burlesque performer Jamie. Jamie, who, when not dancing at the burlesque, is a horror connoisseur and full-time haunted house designer. Despite their vastly different feelings toward the supernatural, they can't deny their attraction to one another.

Jamie and Edgar make for an unusual pair, but somehow it works incredibly well. Jamie offers the strength and kindness that helps Edgar come to terms with his fears and anxieties, while Edgar is able to provide the supportive friends and family that Jamie deserves. My one quibble is that even though Edgar admits that he should probably see a therapist, the comment is pretty much tossed aside, as this relationship has fixed all his anxieties. I love to see people grow in romance novels as individuals, not just as co-dependent friends/lovers, and by implying that this relationship fixes everything, it makes me as a reader doubt the longevity. However, that doesn't detract from a lovely story, perfect for reading during spooky season.

Gideon the Ninth

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, 448 pages

This was my second time reading this book, and I'm not going to rewrite what I wrote in my initial review five years ago. That blog post is much more coherent (and much kinder, tbh) than anything I could come up with now, though it doesn't really go into how confusing this book is. I was confused the first time I read it, and after reading it again for Orcs & Aliens, I'm just as confused now. This is a love it or hate it book, and I'm pretty sure you can tell which side I come down on.

Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace by Jo Callaghan, 400 pages

Previously focused on cold cases, Detective Kat Frank and her AI assistant Lock are given their first "live" case: the murder of a man crucified at the top of a hill in a highly contaminated crime scene. Kat's superiors hope that by allowing the human-AI detective pair to investigate will be a PR boon, showing how the police department is using state-of-the-art technology to assist in the solving of crimes. However, Lock's lack of tact and humanity causes problems as the case explodes into a serial killer situation.

This was a surprisingly nuanced look at technology and policing, considering the pros, cons, and gray areas in a way that I didn't expect in a murder mystery. The characters, including Lock, are all three-dimensional and compelling, and the inherent mystery kept me guessing. This is the second book in the series (after In the Blink of an Eye), but stands well by itself even if you haven't read that one (I haven't yet, though I certainly will).

Also, this has nothing to do with the content of the book, but there is a note that the cover was created with AI. Leaving aside all the problems with AI art, I found it somewhat apropos that it was used for this particular book.

Funny Story

Funny Story by Emily Henry (2024) 384 pages

Daphne got her dream job as a children's librarian when she moved halfway across the country to a small town in Michigan, where Peter, her fiancė, wanted to move, to be back near his family. It's just a few weeks from their wedding when Peter breaks their engagement ‒ he realizes he is in love with his best friend from childhood, Petra. Daphne is devastated. Petra's boyfriend, Miles, is devastated as well, and Daphne ends up moving into his apartment because she needs a place to live. In a moment of drunkenness, they RSVP that they're coming to Peter and Petra's wedding. They even decide to pretend that they're now dating.

There's some friend drama, too, when Daphne realizes that she doesn't really have any friends that weren't Peter's friends. 

There's family drama, as well. Daphne's dad left her and her mom when she was small, and she learned that she couldn't count on him. These trust issues spill into how she handles her relationship with Miles.

At the beginning of the book, Daphne is counting the days before she can leave Michigan. Will she follow through, or will she find out she can stay on her own terms?

Cold Clay

 

Cold Clay by Juneau Black (2017, 240 pages)

Star fox reporter Vera is back on the case after old bones are found in Cold Clay orchard, just outside of the town Shady Hollow. The age of the skeleton lines up with when a local celebrity' wife left him, and the town is left to wonder how she ended up under an apple tree.
The regular cast of woodland creature characters, with a bit of a deeper dive into some of them. A cozy, quick read! A little more predictable than the last but still fun.

#2 in the Shady Hollow series. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐  

Every Step She Takes

Every Step She Takes by Alison Cochrun, 384 pages

Sadie has never truly enjoyed a date she's been on, despite her mom and sister constantly setting her up with perfectly fine guys. Maybe it's because she's too wrapped up in her work selling and refurbishing antiques — after all, she can't remember the last time she went on a vacation or got a chance to relax. When she's presented with a chance to take her travel influencer sister's spot on a trek along Portugal's Camino de Santiago, Sadie decides to go for it. Perhaps some time away from home, work, and her family will help reset her brain a bit. But then the combination of wine and turbulence on her flight to Europe prompts Sadie to spontaneously tell the stranger sitting next to her that she might be a lesbian, and suddenly Sadie has a lot more to consider. Especially when Mal, the stranger from the plane, turns out to be a fellow hiker in Sadie's tour group.

While there are a couple of eyebrow-raising elements in this romance novel (I'm not sure I fully buy into the "hey, we're kissing for practice, since you've never kissed a woman before), overall it's a lovely exploration of self-discovery with  a swoony, supportive romance. And it really makes me want to take the 100-mile trek of the Camino pilgrimage. That's not too far, right? :) Anyway, I highly recommend this to readers of Casey McQuiston's The Pairing who wanted a bit less spice.

Atlas of Lost Cities: A Travel Guide to Abandoned and Forsaken Destinations

Atlas of Lost Cities: A Travel Guide to Abandoned and Forsaken Destinations by Aude de Tocqueville (2014, 144 pages)

I love the idea of this book: traveling around the world, exploring the abandoned cities on every continent. For each city, ranging in geography and time period, they provide a brief summary of its history and demise.
Unfortunately it failed to live up to its potential. Clearly Euro-centric with what could be racist undertones (putting "modern" in quotation marks when describing a "'modern' village" in India, which under every definition of the word was modern except for the fact it's not white or European; describing a city as "dating from India's pre-historic era" despite not actually being pre-historic, just precolonial), and straight up incorrect information in parts (maps were wrong, incorrect word translations, etc). There were no photos, only graphics. Which can fit a cohesive theme, but they would describe beautiful scenery and buildings that left me wanting more.
For a book described as a travel guide, it doesn't actually provide any travel guidance. Very little (if any) information on how to get to it or accessibility, if guides are necessary or recommended, or even just a rating on how desirable a destination it is.
I think for those interested in abandoned cities, this could be a good starting point but in my opinion, get your research from a different source. 

 

⭐⭐ 

Devil and the Dark Water

 

Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton (2020, 463 pages)

A detective duo in the 17th century that has bloomed into a friendship board a boat when the brains of the pair is arrested without reason. This ship has everything: high valued cargo that few actually know the contents, nobility boarding with sailors, demon markings, corporate greed, vastness of open ocean, and murder. A diverse cast of characters, each with their own history that unravels throughout the story. This book goes far deeper than a whodunit. Mystery, horror, a bit of comedy and a touch of romance, and genuine twists (although I didn't believe the horror genre until I tried to go to sleep after reading it for a few hours).

I recommend this book for people who loved when BBC Sherlock got a little spooky in seasons 2 and 3. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Heist of Hollow London

The Heist of Hollow London by Eddie Robson, 288 pages

Clones Arlo and Dianne make a living as walking advertisements for trendy fashion companies owned by the same megacorporation that owns them. But then, seemingly simultaneously, the company goes under and Arlo's called in for reaping, which means that the corporate executive from whom he was cloned has need of one of Arlo's organs. But when Arlo isn't immediately killed for his "spare parts," he learns that he's been given the man's eyes instead as part of an elaborate plot to steal enough money for Arlo, Dianne, and a cohort of other clones to buy their freedom. However, not all is as it seems.

I love science fiction and I love heists, and this is a wonderful mix of both. I loved the worldbuilding of the dystopian, crumbling world of future Earth, and it's obvious that the crimes were well-planned by Robson. If anything, the end is a bit too convenient and neat, but really, that's getting pretty darn nitpicky. Loved it, much as I have with other books Robson's written.

Life After Life

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, 611 pgs. 

In England on November 11, 1910, a baby girl is born. Soon after she takes her first breath, she takes her last.
In England on November 11, 1910, a baby girl is born, and the presence of a doctor saves her life. The girl, Ursula, lives happily with her family in the English countryside until an accident once again cuts her life short.
In England on November 11, 1910, Ursula is born over and over again, as new choices and chance happenings slightly alter the version of her life she is building. She must do what she can to protect herself and those around her from making fatal mistakes, while also navigating young adulthood during a devastating war. Will the cycle ever end? Ursula does not know. All she knows is that she must make the most of her life each time she lives it. 

This is quite a long book but also a very captivating one--especially for those interested in historical fiction. The horrors of WWII on Europe are central to this story, but they are not the only thing that proves fatal. Danger lurks around every corner of Ursula's lives in the form of strangers on the road, faulty gas lines, and sudden air raids. The way the chapters are organized in a jumble of time allows readers to put themselves in Ursula's shoes for a moment by knowing the things that could happen at any given time. It is scary to think how close we all may have come to death, but perhaps, as Ursula does, we are simply living out our second/third/fourth chance.

Of Women and Salt

 Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia, 207 pages.

Winding from Cuba to Miami, from 1866 to 2016, this book follows a line of mothers and daughters through terrible choices and awful men. Intersecting this family line are Gloria and Ana, a mother and daughter from El Salvador with a very different relationship to immigration. 

I thought this book had a really interesting premise and absolutely beautiful writing. Garcia's writing reminds me of poetry, and her images were often sharp and striking. However, I don't think that this book was long enough to deal very meaningful with the many women it introduced—a problem that is exacerbated by the fact that I believe around half of the book is instead following Gloria and Ana, giving them individually far more "screen time" than any member of the family that is meant to be the center of this family saga. I enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure it quite lived up to its own potential. 

The Harvey Girls

The Harvey Girls by Juliette Fay, 384 pages

It's 1926, and former Boston socialite Charlotte is on the run from her abusive husband. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Billie is leaving home to earn some money to support her parents and eight younger siblings. While they don't have much in common on paper, both women end up being accepted as Harvey Girls, the picture-perfect waitresses who staff the first hospitality chain, along the railroad between Kansas and California. Neither Charlotte nor Billie fits the rules of eligibility for Harvey Girls — who must be at least 18 and unmarried — and their secrets bind the women together as they undergo training in Topeka and get their first post at the Grand Canyon. 

This is a part of 20th Century American history that I haven't often seen in historical fiction, and this book made me want to learn more about the Harvey Girls, the first all-female workforces in the West. The main characters and their growth felt realistic, and I particularly enjoyed Charlotte's journey to self-discovery regarding the Indigenous cultures surrounding the hotel at the Grand Canyon. Highly recommended!

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols (2025) 340 pages

Mrs. B is a widow who owns 6 little cottages surrounding a little courtyard in the Santa Barbara area. She rents out the cottages to people she likes, often giving a low rate to those who need it. Her tenants include Lily-Ann, who's a perfectionist who can't live with her husband anymore; Sophie, who has had a traumatic experience, but is trying to move past it; Hamilton, who is an agoraphobic; Ocean, a gay artist who has two children; and Nicholas, who mysteriously seems to avoid Mrs. B. and the others.

A dead man is found outside Sophie's cottage one morning. The local police immediately decide who the murderer is when they see Mrs. B's latest tenant, Anthony, a large man with a bad facial tattoo, who'd spent time in prison in the past. However, Mrs. B is sure that Anthony has not committed the murder. The rest of the tenants start meeting to learn more about the dead man and people he had associated with, and to figure out who killed him. The relationships that are forged between the tenants feel real. There are a number of secrets and surprises. But the real beauty is the clever plot that kept me guessing until the very end, and has me still ruminating over it a day later. Highly recommend this book.

Sunward

Sunward by William Alexander, 224 pages

Interplanetary courier Tova Lir rejected her parents' high-profile political lifestyle to serve as a low-level messenger between the many human settlements across the solar system. While she does that, she also helps raise young AI identities, which are housed in kid-sized robot bodies as they learn how to focus on the tasks at hand and develop personalities. When her latest baby bot, Agatha, takes on more computational tasks that she can handle to save Tova and her ship, Tova is in a race to track down one of her past charges to keep Agatha's chassis from resetting, trying to dodge a hitman and a recent surge of anti-bot sentiment in her quest.

Right now, AI is a scary wild-west style of technology, as we have no idea what impact it'll have on the future (though none of it looks good). This short novel gives a hopeful alternative to a grim future, with AI beings that have well-developed personalities and an element of humanity working with and for people in a relatively harmonious manner. The found family of Tova and her AI "kids" is fantastic, and Alexander has created some great characters that I'd love to read more about. Highly recommended for fans of Becky Chambers and Annalee Newitz.

Jane and Dan at the End of the World

Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley, 368 pages

Jane and Dan won a raffle for a reservation at one of the fanciest restaurants in the country, so that's how they're planning on celebrating their 19th anniversary. Unfortunately, that's also when Jane decides to tell Dan that she wants a divorce. After all, she's being ignored by their kids, she has no real direction in life, and she's pretty sure Dan's cheating on her. But even her plans for this announcement go wrong, as not long after being served their tiny first course of snooty food, a group of militant climate change activists takes everyone in the restaurant hostage. What ensues is a bitingly funny crime scene, full of inept hostage-takers and police officers, miscommunications, and even a bit of self-realization. It's hilarious, it's action-packed, and definitely a bunch of fun.

Love Is a War Song

Love Is a War Song by Danica Nava, 336 pages

After rising pop star Avery Fox gets cancelled for her culturally insensitive use of Native American imagery, her mom/manager sends her off to the Muscogee reservation in Oklahoma to learn about her heritage at her estranged grandmother's house, where she can also conveniently avoid the paparazzi. Avery's definitely interested in meeting her grandmother, who she's never met and her mother never talks about, but she certainly isn't prepared for life on the reservation or working hard at her grandmother's horse ranch. She also isn't prepared for Lucas, the ridiculously hot and aloof ranch hand who seems to hate her from the moment he picks her up at the airport.

While this book is filled with plenty of the traditional romance tropes, its setting in a Native American community and discussion of ignorance and cultural insensitivity is fresh. That said, I can't say I totally loved the book — I have plenty of quibbles with the way things played out toward the end of the book, and I'm sure there are better ways to handle the PR nightmare that spurs the storyline. But it is a fresh backdrop, and I'll definitely be checking out more of Nava's books.

Shady Hollow

 

 Shady Hollow by Juneau Black (2015, 222 pages)

A quaint village of woodland animals experiences their first murder. He will not be sorely missed, but still leaves townsfolk on edge.
While the cast of characters is stereotyped to the type of animal (the fox is the reporter, the bear is the officer, a beaver runs a saw mill, etc), I think overall it helps save some time explaining character traits. You're not meant to think too much about it.
Super cozy mystery that dives into the drama a bit, but overall very cute! Definitely going to continue reading the series. 

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

The Midnight Feast

 The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley (2024, 354 pages)

Sabotage at the hotel grand opening.
Birds flocking in the woods.
Missing and murdered.

I love Lucy Foley's books, even if the characters are often formulaic. This one has her classic beautiful, wealthy, stuck-up main character along with an underdog from their past. But there's also an interesting setting -- a mix of cult and supernatural that I haven't seen much of in her other books. It was less of "which of these friends committed murder?" and more of "what the hell is going on?" which I appreciated! 

⭐⭐⭐⭐
 

The Hunting Party

 The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley (2018, 406 pages)

A group of friends book a remote lodge in Scotland to ring in the new year, 2019. All mostly wealthy Oxford graduates.

This book skips between new year's eve and January 2nd, where the events of the holiday slowly converge. It wasn't even until about 75% of the way through did I narrow down who the murdered actually was, to two people,  and it wasn't until the very end that it's confirmed. This is a fun thriller with twists and turns and classic Lucy Foley characters (that is, the rich and beautiful one and the underdog).

⭐⭐⭐⭐
 

Waiting for Britney Spears

 Waiting for Britney Spears: A True Story, Allegedly by Jeff Weiss, 388 pgs. 

This is a humdinger of a book. Punchy, first-person writing that keeps the reader hooked all the way to the end--even if you're not a Britney Spears fan, which I am not. The book kicks off with the author, before he's even published anything, accidently wandering into his high school gym right after graduation and stumbling upon the video shoot for the song "Hit Me Baby (One More Time)." That scene kicks off the rest of the story, as the author talks his way into a job at a popular tabloid magazine in L.A. where he's assigned the 'Britney' beat, alongside a charismatic but glory-hungry paparazzi photographer. Together, they capture Britney's worst moments for tabloid fodder. Though he knows he's contributing to the self-immolation of America's favorite pop-star, Weiss can't help but feel guilty and wonder if we've lost sight of the person Britney is as opposed to the icon we all expect her to be. I would occasionally catch headlines over the years, but never really knew what was going on with Spears, but I was surprised at how much I remembered from this book. I don't know if I fully believe the author's guilt, given that's he's writing this today, at a time when it's been pretty widely recognized that Spears was mistreated and abused by everyone around her--he has the benefit of hindsight. To wit, none of his stories that he filed about Spears make an appearance here. Nonetheless, if you're gonna read a Britney book, can't go wrong with this one. Reads like a gonzo-tabloid self-confessional. 

September Totals

I think that 50 books this month is a good sign for fall reading!

 Annie: 2 books, 566 pages

Byron: 9 books, 1813 pages

Hammy: 4 books, 1442 pages

Jan: 6 books, 1874 pages

John: 2 books, 577 pages

Kara: 17 books, 6270 pages

Regan: 10 books, 3723 pages

Totals: 50 books, 16265 pages

The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel, 384 pages

Colette Marceau has been a jewel thief since she was a child, taught the family trade by her mother, Annabel, who would only use the things she stole for the benefit of others. When World War II came to Paris, Annabel started supporting the French Resistance with the jewelry she took, with one exception: a pair of interlocking bracelets that she reclaimed on behalf of a friend whose jewels were stolen as she was sent to Auschwitz. Before being captured herself, Annabel sewed the bracelets into the hems of her daughters' nightgowns, and while Colette's sister and the bracelet were lost, Colette held onto her bracelet, hoping to someday bring them back together. Decades later and an ocean away, Colette finds the bracelet in a museum exhibition of jewelry and embarks on a plan to reunite the pair and return them to the family to whom they once belonged.

This was a quick and engaging tale of a fascinating (and sadly fictional) woman, and I loved the vast majority of the book. However, the end felt a little to neat, given everything that had happened to the characters before.