Death at the White Hart

Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall, 352 pages

When the owner of the White Hart pub is found dead — and gruesomely tied to a chair in the middle of the road with antlers affixed to his head — the small town of Fleetcombe is shaken to its core. On the case is Detective Nicola Bridge, who has just returned to her hometown after years working for the Liverpool police department in an attempt at a slower life. Too bad this murder and subsequent investigation into the secrets of the whole community won't let her do that.

I'm going to be completely honest and say that while I remember reading this and thinking it was a solid police procedural mystery, nothing really stuck out to me as either particularly fantastic or problematic. So solid but forgettable in my eyes. However, fans of Broadchurch will probably enjoy a complex mystery novel by the creator of that show.

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold

 Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire, 149 pages.

Everyone thought that when Nancy found her door and got to go home, nobody at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children would ever see her again. But when ghosts start devouring the living statues in the Halls of the Dead she realizes she wants to live more than she wants to be in the place it feels like she belongs, so she is back at the school asking Eleanor to break the school's "no quests" rule again. 

It was so nice to spend time with Nancy again! Overall, this book does a good job bringing back a lot of the original cast from the first book, and giving them a chance to interact again. I also found the descriptions of the Halls of the Dead very striking. That being said, I feel like that character work in this book is a little weaker than many other in the series. Despite the fact that Kade is in this book the whole time, I don't feel like I know much more about him then when we started, and even Nancy's major changes seem to happen mostly off-page. I'm still really enjoying this series, but I don't know that this is the strongest entry.

City of Thieves

City of Thieves by David Benioff, 258 pages.

Lev Beniov is a young man trying to reach adulthood in the harshest circumstances possible. The Nazi siege of Leningrad seems endless, everyone in the city is teetering on the edge of starvation, and crimes are punished without mercy. Which is why taking the knife off a dead German soldier is considered a crime that comes with a death sentence. A powerful colonel tells him that if he and the charismatic deserter her was imprisoned with bring him a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake, they will not only live, but be rewarded. The task seems impossible in a city that has been starving for months, but Lev and Kolya will plunge into the most dangerous situations for a chance at life.

This book has an interesting premise, and has some really solid adventure elements. That being said, it definitely feels like a book written by a man, for men. It is a coming-of-age story that feels like it has a lot to set it apart with extraordinary circumstances, but Benioff's overreliance on tired tropes makes it feel a little cliche despite everything working in its favor. It's a fairly solid work of historical fiction, but I don't know that I would recommend it unless you are particularly interested in the siege of Leningrad.

The White Octopus Hotel

The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell, 368 pages

Eve is a reclusive art appraiser for a London auction house, happily doing her job when an old man walks in. He says his name is Max Everly — coincidentally, the same name as her favorite composer, born more than a century earlier — and he has a gift for her. After leaving Eve's office, the man disappears from her life, though she's intrigued by the small white octopus he's given her. A bit of research on the octopus takes Eve to an abandoned hotel in the Swiss Alps, and as she's exploring, she falls through time to the heyday of the hotel in the 1930s, where she once again meets a much younger Max Everly.

Sprinkled with time travel, mysterious magical objects, and a curiously fun hotel (my favorite element is the hidden eavesdropper in the speakeasy, who gives his signature cough whenever someone is lying), this book is a lovely read. Yes, it dabbles with the fantastical and magical, but it's not a full-on fantasy novel. An excellent magical realism read for fans of books like The Night Circus.

The Letter Carrier

The Letter Carrier by Francesca Giannone, 416 pages

When Carlo returns to his small Italian hometown of Lizzanello with a new wife, Anna, everyone is intrigued by her beauty and unconventional ways. When she takes over the job of letter carrier after the previous one dies, she's seen as even stranger, as no woman has ever held the position. But Anna slowly works her way into the hearts of Lizzanello's people, though she never ceases to be a subject of gossip, especially once she creates a home and learning space for women.

Beginning in 1934 and spanning several decades, I expected this book to really give us a flavor of the political and social changes throughout the 20th century in Italy. And while those were touched on, it was very much pushed to the margins. While the relationships were well created, a few of the characters had me rolling my eyes (you'll know which ones if you read it) and itching to get back to Anna.

Making History

 Making History by K.J. Parker, 128 pages.

Aelia's head academics have a problem. First Citizen Gyges needs a war to help people forget that his claim to power is less than totally legitimate, and to help the people swallow his harsh policies. But he can't just start a war for the sake of starting a war, so he needs justification. He has decided to make this the problem of the city's professors. Their task is to create a lost utopian city underneath the plains, so convincing that nobody can question the the righteousness of their anger, or the fact of this hitherto unknown civilization. After all, if history is just a story we tell ourselves, who says it can't be changed?

This was a really cool premise, but I found the execution a little lacking. Very little time was actually spent on any of the mechanics of changing history, and more was dedicated to weird metaphysics and speeches on history I mostly found self-indulgent. For a book that plays in this space in a more compelling way, I recommend The Everlasting by Alix E Harrow. 

The Sisters

The Sisters 

The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, 656 pages.

As intimated by the title, The Sisters is about sisters and (surprise!) a guy. The novel spans thirty years of their intertwined lives as Swedish-Tunisians mostly living in Sweden with short forays to Tunisia and New York. There are several throughlines, such as a curse, difficult family dynamics, and life between two cultures, but the book is really about maturing and finding your place in the world. The book is structured in a fascinating way. It is divided up into six parts with each part covering a shorter time span. The first part is a year which compresses to a single minute by the final, sixth section.

I love books with complicated family dynamics. Khemiri really shines when writing about the sisters and the relationship they have with each other and extended family. While Jonas' (the guy) voice is used as an outside perspective to the sister's lives, I am not sure his character brought a lot to the story and I questioned why he was there at all. The book is a solid 656 pages, but I was invested enough to want more. 

How to Be Perfect

 How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur, 304 pages.

This hugely approachable introduction to moral philosophy is by Michael Schur, who also created both The Good Place and Parks and Recreation, shows I have not seen. As this was pitched to me as sort of an "extended reading" for the The Good Place, being an extension of the philosophy research Schur did for that show, I was a little worried about that, but I ended up being very glad I picked it up! Schur mostly digs into three major philosophies (Aristotelian Virtue Ethics, Utilitarianism, and Deontology) with smaller detours into several other secular moral frameworks. 

Schur does a really great job not only contextualizing information about these frameworks, but also showing how they can applied, as well as all of their respective weak points. It is also extremely funny. I listened to the audiobook, which is read by the author with cameos from a handful of his actor friends, and I really can't recommend it highly enough. Schur's delivery regularly had me cracking up a little, which isn't necessarily the most common reaction to ethical quandaries. I feel that I should also clarify how completely approachable this book is. It starts with addressing the ethical question "Should I punch my friend in the face for no reason?" and builds only gradually to the stickier questions. Schur always prioritizing presenting the philosophies in an easy to understand way, so that the audience's thinking power can be devoted to evaluating them rather than struggling to understand the concepts themselves. Overall, an easy to digest piece of nonfiction that still feels very enriching, I highly recommend it. 

Nicked

Nicked by M.T. Anderson, 220 pages.

In 1087 the path to wealth and prestige was often through holy relics and the pilgrims they brought. So when Brother Nicephorus has a dream a St. Nicholas that he interprets as a call to minister to the pox-stricken in the city of Bari, the powers that be instead decide that obviously this dream instead means that St. Nicholas would like his bones removed from Myra and brought to Bari. So Nicephorus is introduced to Tyun the relic hunter and his international crew, both as the "dreamer" and as a valuable witness of authenticity, due to his complete inability and unwillingness to lie. What follows is a swashbuckling adventure that goes in a whole lot of unexpected directions. 

This was a great book, and a great work of historical fiction! I feel like a lot of historical fiction feels like it uses history as a setting rather than something that impacts characters and worldview, but this book felt immersive. One of the characters is a dog-headed man, and in the author's note he mentions that he included this because they were in virtually every travelogue published at the time. I feel like this really nails the commitment to living within this medieval worldview. Beyond all of that, it was just a really fun book! This feels like the kind of adventure story that is begging to be turned into a movie. It was twisty and engaging, and I loved how all of the threads kept coming together. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a heist that's a little different, swashbuckling, or great medieval historical fiction. 

Gallant

Gallant by V.E. Schwab, 338 pages.

Olivia Prior has never entirely fit in at Merilance School for Girls, partially because she can't speak, and partially because she sees the dead. A letter from a man claiming to be her long-lost uncle invites her to his country home, Gallant. And Olivia, desperate to be wanted and find a place to belong, goes willingly, even though Gallant is the one place her mother warns her never to go in the diary that shows her slow spiral away from sanity. When she arrives Gallant is not what she expects, but she has to learn its secrets quickly if she is to have any hope of the family she has longed for. 

This was a fabulous, very gothic, novel. The books blurb describes it as The Secret Garden  meets Crimson Peak, and honestly that's an extremely accurate comparison. I liked how spooky it was, but also how thoughtful. The writing is beautiful, and the images are striking. Highly recommended for fans of modern gothic.