Call Me Ishmaelle by Xialolu Guo, 446 pages

 

 

This is kind of a playful retelling of Moby Dick, but with a new protagonist. Ishmaelle is a teenage girl posing as a young man who sets out on a ship very similar to the Pequod. While correcting the all-maleness of Moby Dick, it gives a lot of characters a new look with more cultural understanding. None of that contributed to me not feeling this one. Usually I like a lighthearted romp into a beloved classic (looking at you, Jasper Fforde). But it was just too long, and the protagonist was devoid of personality to a startling degree.

Ruby Falls by Gin Phillips, 368 pages

 

 

Others have summarized this one, so I’ll skip that part. I like this one pretty well! While technically a mystery, it didn’t really have that tone or fit into any of the endless flavors or subgenres. Just a solid realistic historical fiction. And there's plenty here for you if you just...like rocks. Will definitely seek out more by this author.

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey, 190 pages

 

This is one of those memoirs that isn’t strictly a memoir, and contains just interesting things that the writer has found out researching a topic. In this case, the story vacillates between the author’s own experience with a chronic illness and her relationship with a snail that a friend brings her for company, and interesting snail facts about snails in nature and pop culture. Kind of a subgenre that could be called “We’re Not So Different, You and I”. This as a pretty good quick little read. No real complaints about it, but nothing earthshattering. Alternate title could easily be Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Snail Sex but Were Afraid to Ask.

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz, 163 pages

Others on our blog have summarized this one very well, so I’ll skip that part. I had tried the audiobook of this one a while back, but found that it required more attention than I was willing to give in that moment. Inspired by the reviews of my coworkers, I gave it another shot and am glad I did. It’s hard to find something that finds the sweet spot of wholesome but not saccharine, and I think this did that very well. The pacing of revealing with the world in the story was excellent, but I’m not sure that there was a whole lot going for it after that. The approach to social issues that it touched on seemed a little on-the-nose...but overall it was a very fun quick read.

Rivers of London

 

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, 392 pages

Probationary Constable Peter Grant is hoping for any permanent assignment that saves him from a position in the bureaucracy department, and a ghostly witness to a strange murder proves to be just the ticket for getting into a much more interesting department. Peter finds himself under Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who is currently the whole department handling supernatural problems around London, the police's single wizard. Peter is pulled into the politics of rivers and casting spells, even as the gristly murders keep multiplying. 

While it was nice to get back into urban fiction, which was at one point a lot of what I read, I don't know that I'm jumping to recommend this book in particular. The general consensus among the Orcs & Aliens book club was that Peter was a bit of a boring protagonist, and there's a fair bit of sexism that isn't surprising for a book published in 2011 by a fifty-year-old man, but did make it less enjoyable. Part of me is curious to see where some of the settings open paths go, but I'm unlikely to continue the series. 

A Single Thread

 A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier (2019), 336 pages

Violet Speedwell finds herself, at 37, to be a "surplus woman". The year is 1932 and many young men have lost their lives in the Great War. Instead of remaining home with her difficult, embittered mother, she strikes off on her own as a typist in a neighboring town. Life is difficult and lonely and Violet finds herself drawn to a society of broderers (women who embroider kneelers and cushions for churches). There she finds friendship and company. 

This was an interesting book as I knew very little about broderers and found the subject quite interesting. The novel also delves into Cathedral bell ringers and the mechanics behind that trade (also interesting). The story itself, though, was just ok. While I appreciate Violet's struggle for autonomy and self-sufficiency in a time where women were expected to be married, she wasn't that likeable of a character. But, if I had survived the Great War and lost so many people I loved, I might not be particularly likeable either. 

The Burn Line

 

The Burn Line by Jonathan Sims, 384 pages.

Five passengers on the London underground share what seems to be a normal journey on the tube, rendered especially unpleasant by a historic heat wave. But if the trip was normal, why can none of them shake the feeling that something terrible and unnatural happened? The feeling is impossible to shake, and only grows stronger as they feel themselves being stalked, and as strange and not-quite explicable events keep happening around them. The five individuals have nothing in common but their commute, but they will have to come together if they want any chance of survival.

This book had a bit of a slow start. There was a lot of characters telling us they felt uneasy, with very little actually happening on page. However, Jonathan Sims excels at character writing, and I think the split perspective style, cycling through the whole cast, definitely added to the book. Once it hit its stride it was engrossing, and I really enjoyed how it all came together. I don't know if I would call this Sims' strongest work, but I did enjoy it, and would recommend it as a fun bit of summer horror.

This book is scheduled to be released on 8/25/2026. 

June Totals

 A special welcome to new blogger Sarah!

My TBR is getting truly out-of-hand friends

Annie: 2 books, 648 pages

Byron: 4 books, 1029 pages

Jan: 6 books, 1931 pages

John: 2 books, 1529 pages

Kara: 4 books, 1328 pages

Kevin: 3 books, 1472 pages

Regan: 12 books, 3551 pages

Sarah: 3 books, 685 pages

Tracey: 8 books, 3071 pages 

Totals: 44 books and 15,244 pages

Beyond Magenta

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin (2014) 182 pages

This book was published over 12 years ago, but the information still seems fresh. The author interviews six teens, going into their lives and when they became aware that they didn't match up with their assigned-at-birth gender, and how they and their families navigated after that. Some of the young people are male-to-female, some are female-to-male, one was determined to be intersex. Some have families that accept them, some do not. The soul-searching that these young people go through to try to figure out who they are is difficult.

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 [graphic novel]

 

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton (2009) 149 pages

Somehow I'd missed reading Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel from 1953. This graphic novel version caught me up in no time. It's a timely subject for those reeling from book bans. Guy Montag is a fireman, but fireman means something quite different in his time: he helps burn books of those who are found to have them. He meets a young woman in his neighborhood while walking home one night, and his conversations with her make him start questioning everything he sees and knows. Good book, which makes me want to read the original.