Out of the Woods

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young, 336 pages

Sarah and Caleb got married right out of high school, racing against the clock so that Sarah's mom could be at their wedding before she lost her battle with ALS. Caleb was Sarah's rock and savior during those rough years, taking care of her while she dealt with the weight of caretaking and then struggled with her grief. Eleven years later, while Caleb works too many hours at his startup company, Sarah's struggling to remain relevant in her own life. When a friend suggests a weeklong couples camping trip (something that is completely foreign to the distinctly non-outdoorsy couple), Sarah sees it as a hail mary pass to save their marriage.

This is billed as a romance, and the cover makes it look like a pretty lighthearted one at that. But while there is a bit of spice, it's much more a book about a couple working on themselves to get through the rough spots in a marriage gone stale, and any of the authors attempts to lighten the mood feel a bit off. It's not a bad book per se, but I don't know that I'd recommend it to someone seeking a light romance.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old

 The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old by Hendrik Groen (trans. Hester Velmans), 400 pages.

Hendrik Groen is 83 years old, but that doesn't mean he doesn't think old people are terrible. He decides to keep a secret diary for a year to record the indignities of the nursing home and also to practice saying what he means more often. The novel chronicles not only these things, but also Hendrik's expanding network of friends (the Old-But-Not Dead Club) that try to make his final years something worth living. 

This book is sweet and sad, but I do have to admit that I frequently found it a little dull. The end was devastatingly sad, and not in a way I personally found particularly satisfying. That being said, it was an interesting window into an underrepresented population. 

Wooing the Witch Queen

 Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis, 304 pages.

Queen Saskia is desperately trying to hold onto her kingdom in a political situation where many of her neighbors would rather see her fratricidal uncle on the throne then a "wicked sorceress." She is totally dedicated to developing spells to stop the troublesome and aggressive imperial archduke next door from conquering her kingdom on behalf of her uncle, which leaves little time for either politics are organizing her inherited magical library. Little does she know that the archduke has at no point been in charge of his people, and that he has fled to seek her protection from his former regent, who he is sure wants him dead. Due to some early misunderstandings, Felix assumes the identity of "Fabian" a dark wizard who becomes Saskia's librarian. 

For reasons unknown, something about this cover really drew me to this book, and it was a pleasant surprise! It was overall a very sweet fantasy romance, with less villainy and evil then I would expect from a "wicked sorceress" and a "dark wizard." Both of the characters were mostly very sweet, and it was the kind of slightly ridiculous premise I prefer for my romances. I'd recommend this as a light fantasy romance novel about healing from childhood trauma, although maybe less for people looking for something with a darker edge.  

March Totals

 Annie: 3 books, 883 pages

Byron: 12 books, 3306 pages

Jan: 6 books, 1784 pages

John: 1 book, 328 pages

Kara: 10 books, 3721 pages

Kevin: 1 book, 272 pages

Regan: 11 books, 3234 pages

Totals: 41 books, 12,645 pages

A People's History of the Vampire Uprising

 A People's History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal, 432 pages.

A young woman dies of a mysterious disease in a small town in Arizona. Later, she walks back out again. This disease "re-creates" people stronger, faster, slower aging, and with a taste for human blood. Soon, with some clever social maneuvering, these vampires (who prefer to be called gloamings) come to make the disease not only accepted but sought-after, even with its high mortality rate. This fictional oral history follows doctors, FBI agents, priests, and many others for a complete look at the gloamings in America.

This is a book with a whole lot of really cool ideas, which unfortunately often go nowhere. Many plot points are picked up and then never resolved, and the whole novel feels like it lacks a through-line to make it work as a book. There are two chapters that imply that nuclear weapons were launched in relation to vampires, but we're never told what actually happened, nor is it ever mentioned again after those two short interludes about 2/3 of the way through the book. This book has some interesting world-building material to chew on, especially for people interested in vampires, but I'm not sure I can recommend it as a cohesive novel. 

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

 The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman, 544 pages.

The third book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series takes us to the fourth floor, a very different type of dungeon level. This level is more puzzle than adventure game, with hundreds of train lines winding and twisting in an incomprehensible tangle. Luckily the crawlers, the last remnants of what was once humanity, have started unionizing. Huge networks of crawlers are getting connected, and it seems like together they may just survive this yet.

This was a slightly different type of book than the first two, but I think it did a really good job delving deeper into the themes of the series. I also don't think I've ever been more grateful for an author's note, which assured me before the book started that I didn't have to remember the many, many, many train line names and station numbers, thereby freeing me up to actually think about the story. I'm having a lot of fun with this series! I am currently impatiently waiting for book four to come in on hold. 

The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey

The Really Dead Wives of New Jersey by Astrid Dahl, 288 pgs. 

You've seen Married to Medicine; you've seen The Real Housewives of New Jersey; now, get ready for Garden State Goddesses! This up-and-coming reality TV series is on its third season, and Eden was just named show-runner, after years of hard work. Nothing can get in Eden's way, as she captures (and at times orchestrates) the drama between a dynamic cast, including Carmela, the sharp-tongued socialite, Renee, the more amenable business-woman, and Hope, the naive newcomer and Eden's cousin with whom she shares a dark past. The organized chaos of upper-class pettiness spirals out of control after the death in the Garden State Goddesses community. Everyone expects drama, not death--what can be done?

This book is so much fun, especially for reality TV lovers! The characters are catty, the plot is full of wild twists, and--best of all--the switching perspective of the story gives readers a chance to understand the world of reality TV through the players' eyes.

Variation

Variation by Rebecca Yarros, 464 pages

When she was a teenager, elite ballerina Allie and her younger sister were saved from drowning by aspiring rescue diver Hudson, sparking a friendship that burned brightly for two summers before the death of Allie's eldest sister drove a wedge between them for more than a decade. Now Allie is back in Hudson's small hometown, recuperating after an injury that she hopes won't end her career. While she'd love to stay as far from Hudson as possible, a revelation about Allie's sister and Hudson's niece pushes them together again, causing the romantic spars that never caught before to suddenly flare up. But will their two high-stress careers, as well as their own past, allow them to be together?

Having read a couple of Yarros' romantasy books, I was intrigued to try something of hers without dragons. And while this was a compelling, quick read with complex characters, a few things regarding the main characters' family members (particularly Hudson's siblings and Allie's mom) hit me as a bit questionable. I don't want to go into more detail here, as it is a decent read and I don't want to give anything away (I particularly enjoyed the ballet insights), but I will say that I felt like some of these things could've been handled with more care and honesty between the characters.

Another selection of graphic novels read in Mar.

 Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel (2012) 290 pages

Unfortunately, I liked this one, the third I've read by Bechdel, the least. She has a hard time deciding how to start this book about her relationship with her mother, with what memory. She spends more time describing her psycho-analysis therapy sessions than showing us memories with her mother. There are a lot of big psychology concepts about parents and children, objects and subjects, plus quoting Virginia Woolf. I could not understand it all. I enjoyed her memories of life with her mother, some of it was relatable. I think the biggest flaw was the structure. I could not find the thread of the story as she jumps around from writing Fun Home to writing this book, from going on a promotional tour for Fun Home to moving away to college memories, from teenage memories to childhood memories, from one therapist to another, from one girlfriend to another, and from her mother as a widow in recent years to back when she was newly a widow and still doing theater. Dream analysis and certain phone conversations with her mother sometimes are revealing, but too often don't connect. Oh, and the ebook of this on Hoopla had the margin cut off too high across the bottom. Some text was cut off.

Berlin by Jason Lutes (2018) 580 pages

Epic! Three books bound into one. I loved this historical fiction about the Weimar Republic, the years between WWI and WWII in the title city. The characters are so well developed. Such a wide range of perspectives like in life. Such diversity like in life. There is a trans character, so this could count if you are participating in a trans rights readathon through trans visibility day on March 31. So timely with the politics currently happening in America. The nightmare of the rise of Fascism and their efforts to eliminate dissent and diversity has happened before and we must learn from history. Jason Lutes has crafted a story and art that is incredibly full of life!

Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story by Nicole Maines with art by Rye Hickman (2024) 205 pages

My wife and I enjoyed streaming the CW's Supergirl series. When I saw that the actress who played Dreamer, Nicole Maines, was writing a comics origin story of her trans superhero character, I was excited to read it. I've also read Jadzia Axelrod's Galaxy: The Prettiest Star graphic novel with a handful of land of Oz references, and a couple characters from that crossover in this story. This is promoted as a DC YA crossover. Rye Hickman's art has a YA feel, not too gritty, brightly colored with plenty of pink and blue, and not too realistic. Nia's dreams, especially before she embraces her Dreamer powers, which includes this entire prequel adventure before the events of the TV series, are topsy-turvy and hard to interpret. While some would accuse it of woke-ness, as if that is a bad thing, there are plot points exploring the way alien refugees are treated and how families sometimes disown their queer children. This would also count if you are participating in a trans rights readathon through trans visibility day on March 31.

Woman, Life, Freedom

 Woman, Life, Freedom edited by Marjane Satrapi, 272 pages.

The remarkable collection of comics was put together after the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, after she was arrested and beaten for "improperly" wearing her hijab. The book pulls together historians, journalists, and more than a dozen artists to tell a comprehensive story of not only the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement, but the history of Iran that led to this point. 

This book was both informative and accessible. I knew fairly little about the history of Iran (and a lot of what I do know actually came from Satrapi's own graphic memoir), but I didn't have any difficulty understanding the events presented here. I was startled by this books thoroughness. I also felt that the fact that each chapter was drawn by a different artist (and therefore had a different art style) helped the reader really feel how collective the movement it depicts is. My only regret is that I didn't read this book sooner.