Gaytheist: Coming Out of My Orthodox Childhood

 

Gaytheist: Coming Out of My Orthodox Childhood by Lonnie Mann (2024) 256 pages

Lonnie recounts growing up in a strict Orthodox family. He's the youngest of three brothers, and he tries to be everything his parents want because of the turmoil that his older brothers put his parents through in their teenage years. But later, when when Lonnie realizes he is gay, he's torn between religion and his own autonomy: in Orthodox Judaism, being gay is not acceptable.

This graphic lit memoir is well-drawn and a fast read. Lonnie, his family, and his friends are realistically depicted. I learned a bit more about Orthodox Jewish traditions through this insider's view.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (2014) 258 pages

A.J. Fikry is a 39-year-old bookseller who was widowed a couple years ago and remains in a grumpy—sometimes drunken—funk. His bookstore is on Alice Island off of Boston, and in spite of an influx of summer visitors, his business is not doing that well. A couple people enter his life – Amelia, a young book representative who's not afraid to mix clothing styles, and Maya, a baby. 

Each chapter in the book is preceded by one of A.J.'s book reviews. It's a sweet book with a great cast of characters.

A selection of March graphic novels

 Alice Guy: First Lady of Film by Jose-Louis Bocquet with art by Catel Muller (2021) 400 pages

I have read several graphic biographies. They are often fairly slim and only highlight a few moments from the person's life. This one has over 300 pages to graphically tell the story of Alice Guy's life. Her childhood was fascinating and international. The episodes showing her early positions as stenographer/secretary does not ignore the sexism of the male workforce. Her work relationship with Gaumont who takes a photography shop in Paris into the emerging, innovative motion picture industry was stern, but supportive. Rather than documenting events or making magic trick films, Alice had ideas for fictional films and directed many, many herself, though only a few still survive. In the early days of film people were already experimenting with synchronized sound. Alice directed several early "music videos" too. She meets and works with Herbert Blaché who would become her husband. They go to America. They have two kids. He is unfaithful. They found their own film studio. She continues directing, but then fortunes turn. It is brief, but still fairly detailed in tracing her later life. The writer then provides 75 pages of a timeline and biographical notes. Overall an excellent book.

Guardian of Fukushima by Fabien Grolleau with art by Ewen Blain (2021) 144 pages

I also read the free comic book day preview a couple years ago and it stuck in my mind. I enjoyed reading the full graphic novel. The mythological elements mixed with the true story works well. The writing and the art complement each other so well. As the bonus material at the end sums up, it was a triple tragedy of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster at Fukushima in 2011. Naoto Matsumura caring for all the pets and farm animals left behind in the irradiated zone is so heartwarming. Based on the preview, I expected more of the story to be about the day to day life of caring for these living creatures that share our home. The final chapter actually involves Naoto being a spokesperson campaigning for less reliance on dangerous nuclear power.

The Library Mule of Cordoba by Wilfred Lupano with art by Leonard Chemineau (2021) 263 pages

Since I work in a library, you might expect this is right up my alley. You'd be right. I loved this comic adventure. I mean comic as in funny haha. Historical fiction with well-drawn characters. The twists and turns that the three heroes and the mule encounter on their journey/escape kept surprising me. Zealots in Cordoba in the late 900s begin burning books that do not fit their interpretation of religious texts. A librarian and two assistant copyists escape with about 100 books overloaded on a stubborn mule, the worst mule in the world. Cunning misadventures boosted by knowledge from these books helps the escapees survive and narrowly avoid capture or death. The storytelling is complex with multiple flashbacks and details about the time period. I think this was planned as a complete work, not separate issues/chapters that were later bound together. The art is incredibly emotive and humorous. The writer and artist obviously love books, and knowledge, and libraries. There is a fantastic afterword with a bit more history too.

The Outside Circle: A Graphic Novel by Patti Laboucane-Benson with art by Kelly Mellings (2015) 128 pages

The art work took awhile to grow on me. The Outside Circle is about indigenous/aboriginal men from broken homes in Canada. Once the main character Pete is in the prison infirmary and the In Search of Your Warrior program is offered as rehabilitation the story really takes off. The writer is a researcher of native counselling services in Alberta, so this is a real service she wants to share with the world. The men, many with gang affiliation, learn about their roots and learn to break generational trauma from residential schools and families being torn apart. There is a symbolic use of masks throughout. Pete imagines a mask covering his face when he uses violence. Later, the Warrior program has the men make plaster masks of their faces to contemplate their true inner person as they near graduation. Pete finds the strength to stop his gang involvement and reconnects with his younger brother, an uncle he never knew, and a daughter he had rejected. It is uplifting and inspirational.

Flirting with Disaster

Flirting with Disaster by Naina Kumar, 320 pages

Seven years ago, Meena and Nikhil spontaneously (AKA drunkenly) got married on a trip to Las Vegas, and while it was a bit of a shock to them both, they decided to give this marriage thing a go anyway. But now, Meena lives in DC, Nikhil lives in Houston, and it's been six years since they've spoken when Meena travels to Texas to make Nikhil sign the divorce papers she sent him. See, she has political ambitions, as well as a guy who wants to marry her, in DC, and all that's standing in the way is a signature. But just hours after she arrives in Houston, so does a hurricane that traps her with her estranged husband through the storm and subsequent flooding, and the forced proximity also forces some latent feelings back to the surface.

I'm always up for a good second-chance romance trope, but something about this one just didn't work for me. I don't know if it's the fact that Meena (a very capable and intelligent woman) was completely unaware of the hurricane that was heading toward Houston until well after she got there (wouldn't it have been on the news or talked about in the political circles she's part of, at least in passing?) or the fact that the whole problem could've been resolved if Meena and Nikhil had a single conversation at some point over the course of those 6 years apart or the fact that somehow Meena kept her marriage a secret from EVERYONE for that long... maybe it was all three. There are better romances out there.

The Road to Heaven

The Road to Heaven by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson (2024) 328pp

Set in 1960s Toronto, this mystery from Canada follows the standard Chandleresque formula. A burned-out private eye, femme fatales, a missing person. and of course, murder. Aspiring PI Patrick Bird works for a crusty old-school detective agency and is glad to be assigned a missing person case, a chance to move on from divorce work, photographing illicit trysts. Trent Linklater, Bird’s high-end client, is concerned that his teenage daughter Abbie has gone missing. Bird uses practically every gumshoe trick in the book looking for the daughter. Red herrings abound and seediness is the rule as Bird takes the reader across the city uprooting rocks and uncovering sleaze. He is run over, finds a body, is dragged to the police station and interrogated, and eventually faces down the murderer. And that is the abbreviated version. Stefanovich-Thomson was just short-listed for an Edgar and has certainly earned it. Readers will be glad that there is no tariff on maple noir – yet.

Secrets Typed in Blood

 Secrets Typed in Blood by Stephen Spotswood, 384 pages,

This third installment of the Pentecost and Parker mysteries brings Lillian and Will back to New York City, and into another knotted nest of murders. Author Holly Quick writes pulpy murder stories for detective magazines under half a dozen pseudonyms, and someone is stealing her murders. Bodies keep turning up, murdered in ways that match her stories exactly. She's desperate for them to solve the murders, and to do it without letting the police know that they're looking, or that the murders are connected. Pentecost and Parker are on the case, and hopefully their professional relationship can survive it. 

This is a strong installment in a series that seems to be consistently good. I really appreciate that each book really shows Will Parker growing as a character. The tone of these books is also so immersive and engaging. This one takes place in 1947, and Will Parker narrates with a noir style that feels both classic and modern. I'm really looking forward to continuing with this series. 

You Are Fatally Invited

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego, 384 pages

The identity of bestselling author J.R. Alastor has been a well-guarded secret for 30 years, so when a handful of authors are invited to Alastor's island mansion for a writing retreat, they're all excited to go and meet the master in real life. But he's not there when they arrive, and his assistant, Mila, doesn't seem to know when he'll arrive. And before long the authors quickly learn that their host has no intention of revealing himself, as the authors start dying one by one, just like murders they wrote in their own books.

It's hard to tell if this locked-room story is a mystery (there are so many tropes!) or a thriller (there is so much suspense!), though that shouldn't prevent people from checking this book out. Yes, there are a few twists that felt a bit unnecessary or obvious, but for a debut novel, it was still a lot of fun. I'm intrigued by what Pliego will bring us in the future.

Daisy Jones & The Six

 Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, 368 pages.

Daisy Jones was practically raised by the Sunset Strip in the 60s, and that upbringing guided her towards a meteoric career in music. The Six, and their sensational front man Billy Dunne, are pulled into her orbit as they work together on an album that will become one of the defining moments of the 70s before their equally spectacular separation. 

This fictional oral history worked very well as an audiobook. Funny enough, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed this book had I not been listening to it. Very little happened in the way of plot, and to hammer home the nature of unreliable narrators in an oral history much of it was covered repeatedly from different angles, which made the book move at a crawl at times. It is also guilty of something that's relatively common in books where the characters know the end at the beginning, wherein they allude to a big, bad event for the whole time that, on it's arrival, is ultimately pretty anticlimactic. All of that being said, I did still find myself invested in the characters and the book. I suspect people who enjoy celebrity stories and messy interpersonal drama as the driving force of their books would like this one, but for my tastes I'm afraid it was only fine. 

Nickel Boys

 Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, 224 pgs.

For a young, Black boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis has a pretty good life--a grandmother who cares for him and a good job. He works toward an improved future for himself and his community, as he signs up to take advanced classes at the local college and participates in civil rights protests. This life that Elwood has set up for himself is completely upended when he is wrongfully incarcerated at Nickel Academy, a prison-like juvenile reformatory school. He befriends a fellow student named Turner who helps him make the best of a terrible situation, but Elwood soon realizes that this "school" is an institution of abuse and atrocities, the worst of which are inflicted upon Black students.

This book is haunting. The events of the story are horrifically reminiscent of real-life "reformatory academies" designed to abuse children of Color in the worst ways. Colson Whitehead crafts a somehow simultaneously subtle and overt condemnation of these institutions, through the switching perspectives of Elwood and Turner, both during and many years after the atrocities they experienced. Very well written and very heavy, with great characters and important perspective

Secrets of the Octopus

 Secrets of the Octopus by Sy Montgomery, 192 pages.

This book is pretty much exactly what it says on the cover. Journalist Sy Montgomery is perhaps best known for her bestselling The Soul of an Octopus (which I still somehow haven't gotten around to reading). Here she returns to to fascinating world of octopus research ten years later, a stretch of time that has been full of breakthroughs in a rapidly growing field. 

This book was written as a companion to the National Geographic TV special of the same name, which this book has filled me with an absolute need to see. I had a pre-existing interest in these crazy smart creatures, but I believe that even if you didn't start with such an interest you would have it by the time you finished the book. Montgomery tells the stories of octopus researchers worldwide, and in the process gives a thorough picture of how unbelievably cool these creatures are. There are behaviors and traits of octopuses so outlandish that (as we see repeatedly in this book) even scientific publications often have a hard time believing them. I HIGHLY recommend this book for octopus lovers, or for anyone with an interest in becoming one. Also recommended for anyone who wants a greater appreciation of the wonders of the natural world. 

Water Moon

 Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao, 384 pages.

In Hana's world, your fate is inked onto your skin for your whole life. Hers is to inherit a pawnshop where people from our world go to sell their greatest regrets, a tiny bridge between Tokyo and her own world of magic. On the day that she inherits the shop she instead wakes to find it ransacked and her father gone. She and a young physicist who wandered in from Tokyo (the first to find the shop with no regrets to sell) go on a desperate journey to the furthest corners of Hana's world to find her father before it's too late and Hana loses her destiny forever. 

This book was amazing. There's something very mythic about Hana's world, where travel can be by puddle, song, rumor, the bridge between midnight and morning, and many other ways beside. The plentiful details of the world somehow felt to me both comfortable and fresh, old and new. I was expecting something much simpler from this book than what I got, and I found the philosophy mixed with adventure very compelling. This novel is beautiful, heartbreaking, and immersive. I would highly recommend it. 

On Writing Well

On Writing Well by William Zinsser (©1976. 2006 edition) 321 pages

In this classic book, Zinsser imparts wisdom on how to be a better nonfiction writer. He addresses those who want to write about people (interviews), places (travel articles), sports, science, and more. Less is more. How to find your voice. Authors he is enamored by (E.B. White and Tom Wolfe among others), because knowing why you like to read certain authors can help you develop your own style.

I especially appreciated how he walks us through an article he wrote about an experience in Mali, annotating it to show why he made certain choices as he wrote (and re-wrote). His engaging style makes the pages fly by. His tips on what not to do are well thought out. Great read.

February Totals

With the help of this blog, your TBR could look like this

 Annie: 2 books, 708 pages

Byron: 13 books, 2948 pages

Jan: 4 books, 1197 pages

John: 2 books, 479 pages

Kara: 8 books, 2448 pages

Kevin: 2 books, 880 pages

Regan: 8 books, 3245 pages

Totals: 37 books, 11,197 pages

The Importance of Being Earnest

 The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, 160 pages.

Jack Worthing finds the pressures of being a wealthy gentleman and good example to his ward completely unbearable at times. So when it all gets to be too much, he goes off to London to deal with his rascally brother Earnest, a role which he gets to embody in town. This secret comes out in London to his friend Algernon, who has his own similar scheme. He is about to give up the came in preparation to propose to Algernon's cousin Gwendolyn, when who should show up at his country estate but his non-existent brother Earnest? 

I last read this play in high school and remembered very little except that I really liked it. Rereading it now I remember how uproariously funny it is. The title itself is a pretty remarkable pun, and overall I was delighted at how well the humor holds up 125 years later. This is an extremely silly play, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a laugh. 

Elder Race

Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 201 pages

Lyn is a princess, the fourth daughter of the Queen who rules over a land that has recently come under the attack of a demon. While her mother brushes off the peasants' complaints, Lyn takes it upon herself to call upon the aid of Nyr, an ancient wizard and the last of the Elders who once ruled the world armed with magic. Nyr, for his part, is a spacefaring anthropologist who was sent centuries ago to observe and report back about the colonists of a new planet, and has spent the last 100+ years in stasis, waiting with diminishing hope for some sort of news from those who sent him. He has the ability to use much of the technology that came with the initial colony ship, a skill that has since left the world's civilization as much of that tech broke down and couldn't be fixed. Together this princess and anthropologist/wizard must work together to defeat whatever it is that's killing people and destroying towns.

As the point of view switches between Lyn and Nyr, the story changes from fantasy to science fiction. I was compelled to keep reading, in part to see what happened next, but also to see how Lyn would interpret Nyr's words and actions, and vice versa. This is a fantastic exercise in language and comprehension barriers, and a treatise on how magic is simply science that we don't understand. I very much look forward to discussing with the the Orcs & Aliens on Monday.

Run for the Hills

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson, 256 pages

Since her dad left when she was 9, Mad has been working on their Tennessee farm with her mom, slowly building a following for their organic crops and free-range eggs. Then one Saturday a man rolls up in a PT Cruiser, claiming to be her half-brother, Rube. His dad left him when he was a kid, and as an adult, Rube hired a private investigator to see what became of his absent father. As it turns out, his father, insurance salesman and mystery author Charles Hill, moved to Tennessee to become an organic farmer, then reinvented himself in Oklahoma, Utah, and finally California, each time leaving a wife and child behind. Before she knows what's happening, Mad is on a cross-country road trip with Rube, following the trail of their father, meeting siblings, and preparing to face the man that left them all behind.

I loved Wilson's dysfunctional-family novel Nothing to See Here, and I had high hopes for this one too. It's not bad, and really focuses on the bonds of siblings, rather than a multigenerational family. It's not entirely believable, if only because I'd find it really hard to hop into a car with someone I just met, even if he is my half-brother, though the story is a fun one. Still, it doesn't hold a candle to the spontaneously combusting children of Nothing to See Here.

*This book will be published May 13, 2025.

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent

 Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench and Brendan O'Hea, 400 pages

This book started as a series of interviews between theater director Brendan O'Hea and actress Judi Dench, originally intended for a theater company's archives. O'Hea soon realized this work was something a whole lot of people would want to read, and decided to turn it into a book instead. However, especially in audiobook form, this book retains the feel of an intimate conversation between old friends. Although Dench read only small portions of the audiobook, the actress they got to read her part sounded so similar I couldn't always tell when they switched.

The book covers the dozens of Shakespeare roles Judi Dench has played in her decades-spanning career, as well as collecting a whole lot of general thoughts about performing Shakespeare and working in theater. I was very impressed how the book managed to twist together biography, funny anecdotes, and very solid Shakespeare analysis into something that felt so cohesive. Judi Dench is riotously funny, and it was a pleasure to feel as if you were in her living room listening to her chat with an old friend. I would strongly recommend this to anyone with an interest in Shakespeare, performing live theater, or Judi Dench. 

The Murderbot Diaries #4-5

 

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (2018) 163 pages

Network Effect by Martha Wells (2020) 350 pages

As I mentioned, I'm continuing with the GraphicAudio editions on Hoopla narrated by David Cui Cui and a full cast. Book 4 Exit Strategy is my favorite so far. Instead of constantly introducing new episodic characters, characters from Book 1 return. Murderbot, the Sec Unit, has grown in his ability to maintain relationships somewhat. He's still anxious and cynical though. The book still has the same formula with action and futuristic corporate maneuvers. It feels good to check in with Dr. Mensah and her Preservation crew of non-corporate scientists. On audio the first four books are all under three hours. Book 5 Network Effect is over eight hours. The first full-length novel continues to have the Preservation crew working with MurderBot and developing deeper bonds together. Dr. Mensah's daughter is a major character. Plus ART, the AI of a spaceship, who might be "in love" with MurderBot, returns. More pages allow for more twists and turns in the plot with alien remnants and the constant threat of evil corp GrayCris. It is enjoyable, but doesn't quite reach the heights of Book 4.

Superbloom

 Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart by Nicholad Carr, © 2025, 272 pgs. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I loved everything about this book. Nicholas Carr takes the title from a 2023 news story about a canyon in California that experiences a surprise 'superbloom' of poppies, due to excessive moisture in the region. The natural phenomenon turns into chaos, as hordes of influencers descend upon the canyon, take selfies and trample flowers, ultimately causing authorities to limit access to the area--and finally causing blowback on the influencers for the stunt in the first place. Carr asks--if communication technologies are typically viewed as something to democratize mass media, thereby making us more free, more safe and more connected--then why is the opposite happening? Why are we separating from our loved ones over culture, why are kids becoming screen-zombies, and why can't our politicians actually connect on solving issues? Carr takes us on a well-researched look back into the beginnings of communication tech and how we got to now. This is practically a philosophical treatise on the inequities of digital communication and how, in the internet's current version, it's tearing apart the fabric of society one thread at a time. There is much to learn here and the prose is thoughtful without being overwrought. My favorite line, in reference to the allure of social media: "Poppies are lush, vibrant, and entrancing. They're also garish, invasive, and narcotic." A must read for anyone who's questioned why our society has gone mad. 

Emily Wilde's Encylopaedia of Faeries

 Emily Wilde's Encylopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, 354 pages.

Emily Wilde is much better with faeries than people. The curmudgeonly Cambridge professor much prefers study to socializing, which means field work alone in remote Ljosland is a perfect last research trip before the publication of the encylopaedia she has dedicated her life to. Unfortunately, her carefree coworker (and sadly only friend), Wendell Bambleby, joins her without notice or permission. Nevertheless, he will be a useful co-author on her current paper, and as the weeks wear on she comes to appreciate his company more and more (despite herself).

This was a very cozy book, although I'm sure it's absolutely not for everyone. I always like an epistolary novel, and I like fiction with footnotes, so those were points in its favor for me, but I know that isn't the case for everyone. While I didn't particularly love either of the protagonists individually, I found their contrast interesting, and their relationship compelling. I also thought that the world-building in this novel was both thorough and fascinating, which is in my experience a bit of a rarity in fantasy romance books. The weirdest thing about this novel is that the prose feels like it would be off-putting to anyone who doesn't enjoy historical fiction, while the book itself (despite technically being in a historical setting) feels like it has very little that would satisfy historical fiction readers. However, if you enjoy historical fiction but are currently looking for more of a cozy fantasy novel, this could be a great choice!

Station Eleven

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, 336 pages.

This strange, quiet book is a little hard to describe. It swings back and forth between the life of famous Hollywood actor Arthur Leander, who dies on stage the same night that the world changes forever, and Kirsten Raymonde, a young woman performing in a traveling Shakespeare troupe twenty years later in the early days of the new world. There are a few other perspectives included, but these two characters serve as the anchors to guide us through their respective worlds. Arthur sits at the middle of a net of connections that exist invisibly in the world that remains after a plague wipes out the majority of humanity. 

I found this novel completely immersive. Once I started reading I found it difficult to put down, and I found the author's prose deeply moving. This is a quiet, reflective book, and I would recommend it wholeheartedly. 

The Next Best Fling

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez (2024) 376 pages

Marcela Ortiz is a librarian who has been in love with Ben, a guy she met 9 years ago. They dated in college for a short time, and when he broke up with her, she thought it was because her body isn't perfect. When he wanted to stay friends, she chose that alternative because she didn't want to lose him completely. Now he's engaged to Alice, so Marcela is quite upset. At an engagement party for Ben and Alice, Marcela discovers that Ben's brother Theo is upset, too: Theo's in love with Alice, and would like to break up the couple. It turns out that Marcela and Theo have a lot in common.

Where can this lead? The novel is chock full of emotional pitfalls.  The brothers have issues, their parents had issues, and Marcella has issues, too: her continuing love for Ben, the abandonment she has felt since her father left when she was a child, her negative feelings about her body, and now her budding interest in Theo. One of my favorite characters in the book is Marcela's best friend, Angela, who lends some good gut-checks to her friend. Some of the plot points seem unrealistic, but the emotion is real.

Another selection of graphic novels read in Feb.

 Queenie: Godmother of Harlem by Elizabeth Columba and Aurelie Levy (2023) 160 pages

I was very intrigued by this history. Art in black and white is very realistic. Very traditional and symmetrical panels. The flashbacks to Stephanie St. Clair's childhood all deepen who she was as a person. A shadowy death always waiting for her is a great dramatic device. Astericks appear multiple times leading to a glossary in the back with historical context or translations of French at the bottom of the page. I love when Queenie and Bumpy, her right hand man, are in a movie theater and an indigenous character on screen breaks the fourth wall to address one asterisk right away. He explains a quote by James Baldwin. Black history is violent and often terrifying.

Ms. Marvel by Saladin Ahmed Omnibus by Saladin Ahmed with various artists (2021) 403 pages

This combines volumes 1-3. I had previously read volume 1, which is issues #1-6. The rest of this run by Saladin Ahmed felt like a smooth transition from G. Willow Wilson's series for this superhero. I love the further development of Kamala's family and high school friends. #7-18 had pretty good villains/monsters and fun uses of Ms. Marvel's powers to overcome the obstacles.

Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki (2023) 443 pages

Second book I've read by Mariko Tamaki. This time she is working with her cousin Jillian Tamaki. Two friends and a new classmate, who are all in their first year of college, have different ways of being tourists in NYC. Over five days I love the way the story moves and how movement is illustrated across the page. The four tone color scheme works well. The relationship drama, the symbolic butterfly, the playfulness is all great and engaging.

Surrounded: America's First School for Black Girls, 1832 by Wilfred Lupano with art by Stephanie Fert (2025) 144 pages

Another great historical graphic novel for Black History Month! I'm not sure who is responsible for lettering, but it was tricky reading this font at times. Especially on my phone screen, but also on a desktop monitor, I had to really squint to make out some of the speech. I loved the way the story was told and the art. I could not find evidence that Stephanie Fert worked on the animated films Wolfwalkers or The Secret of Kells, but her art style reminded me of  those. The beauty of nature, the ugliness of racism, the promise of uplifting education are all explored. Crossing paths with Crandall's School for Girls is a young "feral" boy and a "witchy" woman who offer clever storytelling complications. There are pages with silent action, which work very well. And there are historical tidbits in an Afterword provided by the Crandall Museum.

Erased: A Black Actor's Journey Through the Glory Days of Hollywood by Loo Hui Phang with art by Hughues Micol (2024) 200 pages

This is a fascinating subject. Published in French first and translated. I just don't think the writer and artist were totally successful in delivering on the promise of the story. On one page director Josef von Sternberg, talking about exoticism, describes it as "a great big aesthetic shambles." I think that describes this graphic novel overall. It is trying to do so much tracing racism and politics in Hollywood. Maximus Wyld has Indigenous, African, and Chinese ancestry, so he is given many ethnic supporting roles. He is fictional, but he crosses paths with many real people who worked in Hollywood. He works on many real film projects. I didn't love the black and white art. Maybe the color scheme of the cover should have been used throughout. "Camera" angles change too abruptly and without the most logical flow. The likenesses of famous people aren't always recognizable. And sometimes the pages are too dark and cluttered. Writing-wise I wish there was more of a flow too. It is disjointed in attempting to cover so many faults in the way Hollywood operated. It is not always clear who is speaking, or what text bubbles are thoughts rather than speech. Purely non-fiction sketches of real people and films would probably have been more successful than this amalgamation of one guy linking all these different experiences.

Side Quest: A Visual History of Roleplaying Games

 Side Quest: A Visual History of Roleplaying Games, by Samuel Sattin and Steenz, 208 pgs.

This graphic novel takes a broad view of tracing the early origins of roleplaying games, going far back into global history to trace early origins of imaginative play, improv, and strategy games. Although I would argue that the authors maybe took on too wide of a scope, I did learn a lot of interesting facts about topics I wouldn't otherwise know much about, so I can't be too upset! The illustrations were easy to understand, and they whole book was extremely digestible. 

My biggest criticism is that while this book spends a lot of time on ancient history, there is proportionally way less time spent on the history of actual roleplaying games, and contains almost nothing at all after the 1980's (despite the current boom in the genre). I think I might have liked this book better if it billed itself as being on the origins of roleplaying games, rather than a history of a specific medium that it was ultimately a little sparse about. Still, it was an interesting little book, and if you are interested in the description of the actual contents of the book I suspect you would quite like it!

Erasure

 Erasure by Percival Everett, 280 pages.

Thelonious "Monk" Ellison is an English professor who writes impenetrable literary novels, which are frequently rejected not only for being impenetrable, but for not being "black" enough, a maddening criticism for Monk since they weren't meant to be addressing his race at all. The runaway success of the exploitative debut novel "We's Lives in Da Ghetto," his own stalling career, and a personal tragedy all push Monk to the edge, and in a fit of rage he writes a parody of the exploitative fake-ghetto genre that seems to be thriving. When the book turns out more successful than all of his other work put together (and being taken completely at face value), Monk is forced to reckon with his new place in the world, and the false identity he's constructed to reach it. 

I saw the movie adaptation of this book (American Fiction) last year, and when I found out it was based on a book I was instantly curious about it. I think this is another case (much like Cloud Atlas) where the book and the movie are very different, because each fully leans into the strengths of their medium. This is a complex, layered book. I feel certain I missed a lot of details of what Everett was doing, but even so there are elements that I will be thinking on for a while yet. The structure was sort of experimental and interesting, Monk was a compelling protagonist (if not necessarily a likable one), and the whole novel feels like it comes together into something greater than it's parts. It's easy to see why this author won the National Book Award for his most recent novel. I would recommend this thoughtful book widely. 

Everything Anxiety Ever Told You is a Lie

Everything Anxiety Ever Told You is a Lie by Dr. Toni Lindsay (2024) 167 pages

In a book geared towards young adults, Toni Lindsay gives strategies for managing anxiety. She makes a case that the more we give in to anxiety and avoid activities that make us uncomfortable, the harder it is to keep it from dictating our lives. On the other hand, the more we learn to confront our anxiety and then learn not to focus on it, the better off we are.

I think this book would be helpful for people of any age.

Greenteeth

Greenteeth by Molly O'Neill, 320 pages

Jenny Greenteeth has been minding her own business at the bottom of her lake for hundreds of years when her watery home is disturbed by the arrival of a witch, who was bound in irons and thrown in to drown. To her own surprise, Jenny rescues the witch, Temperance, and soon joins forces with her and a nomadic goblin to seek out the tools that will allow them to defeat the ancient evil that has taken over Temperance's town and is threatening Jenny's lake.

This is a lovely fantasy tale that plays with the folklore of the British Isles and presents it in a fun new way. I'd heard of Jenny Greenteeth in passing, but this is the first book I've read where such a character gets top billing, and it's absolutely delightful. I loved Jenny and her thorny ways, and I look forward to reading more from O'Neill in the future. Highly recommended for fans of T. Kingfisher's fantasy novels.

Respect Yourself

 Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion by Robert Gordon, 480 pgs. 

This book was a hoot! I’ve been listening to some of these records and artists for so long but had no idea the kind of cultural relevance they had—the twists, the turns—Atlantic records stabbed them in the back and stole their back catalog! Zelma Redding co-wrote Dreams to Remember! (I’ve always been partial to the Toots and the Maytals version). Aretha Franklin was almost a Stax artist?! Unreal.

This was the second book for our 2025 Rhythm n' Books group and it was well-received by everyone who read it. It covers the very beginning of Stax in Memphis and follows their tumultuous and rapid growth during the civil rights movement. As much as it is about the bands and the music, it also reads as a great business book--at one point, Stax artists were so popular that the company had visions of being a major competitor to CBS--but bad business decisions kept that dream at bay. Check out the 4-part mini-series on HBO to watch it all come alive. 

Book and Dagger

Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II by Elyse Graham, 400 pgs. 

       For being dense subject matter, this was a really fun read that basically covers the beginnings of the CIA. At the beginning of World War II, America wanted to get into the spy game but had no history prior to draw from. As a result, the government leaned heavily on academic institutions--professors, archivists, and experts--to help them develop a knowledge-base about the world and its potential enemies. Some became spies, some set-up clandestine divisions overseas, some joined the newly developed Research and Analysis division (at a certain point, they were known as the 'Chairborne Division'). R&A laid the groundwork for the techniques and protocols that America would gather intelligence in the decades to come. The way the book starts is similar to the way a traditional spy novel begins--with a mild-mannered hero, being approached by a government spook and being asked to meet in a secret, shadowy place. The author does great research highlighting some of the most important names to have a hand in major operations against the Nazis. Adele Kibre is one of the only female heroes that stands out. She was a PHD archivist with a talent for finding rare books and was sent over to Europe to hunt down useful texts that would help the Allies fight the Germans. I was additionally surprised to learn the amount of planning that happened prior to the Normandy invasion, all conducted by the R&A team and followed by a "ghost war ," which was the Allies' attempt to make Hitler think that the invasion was going to happen elsewhere in Europe. It's a great book that reminds you why we, as a society, rely on experts and scholars (and librarians!) to make the world a better place. 

Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder

Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder by Bellamy Rose, 256 pages

Spoiled heiress Pomona Afton is living her best socialite life — attending galas, racking up charges on the credit card that her grandmother pays off, club-hopping with her friends Opal and Coriander, etc — when the rug is pulled out from under her. Her aforementioned grandmother, head of Afton Hotels, has been murdered, and recently added clause in her will stipulates that none of her beneficiaries get anything until her murder is solved. So with the help of her new roommate, Pomona is out to catch the killer, while she also learns how to live without a penthouse and service staff.

As I read this, I felt like I was experiencing some weird Gossip Girl episode where Serena and Dan cosplayed as private detectives. While she's supposed to be a vapid socialite at the start, it took a bit too long for her to become a likeable character, for me to really care about Pomona getting her life back. It was OK, but nothing to write home about.

*This book will be published March 18, 2025.

The Third Gilmore Girl

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop, 244 pages

In her new memoir, veteran actor Kelly Bishop recounts her life in show business, from her early days as a ballet dancer and chorus member in stage musicals to her more recent roles as formidable matriarchs in movies and TV shows. Along the way, she won a Tony for her role in A Chorus Line (a role that she also inspired the creation of) and became known in households across the country as the exacting Emily Gilmore in the WB show Gilmore Girls. This book covers all of that, as well as her personal life behind the scenes, including her marriages, her longtime love of animals, and her dedication to feminist causes. It's a lovely book, and the audiobook (read by the author) made me feel like Bishop was sitting beside me, just chatting about her life. It's nothing groundbreaking, but as a longtime Gilmore Girls fan, I loved it.

Joe Hustle

 Joe Hustle by Richard Lange (2024) 255 pp
Another pseudo-memoir of a Gulf War veteran, a page turner and gritty without being maudlin. Joe Hustle has had a few difficulties over the years. A terrible family life with a dysfunctional mother and a missing father. He tried the Marines — deployed to Iraq — and was drummed out after not being able to stay sober. Back in his hometown of LA he flounders. Bartender jobs (usually ending with drunken brawls) and piecework as a painter/handyman (usually end due to issues with drink). And I almost forgot the prison stint (booze-fueled car theft). Lange employs an oft-used, oft abused technique of tossing in autobiographical details thanks to Joe being “interviewed” by a wanna-be screen writer neighbor. These one page blurbs don’t interfere with the broader narrative. The novel revolves around a romantic entanglement with Emily who takes Joe to new heights of intimacy. Ultimately this falls apart after a wild misguided trip to Austin — based on Emily’s bi-polar delusion that she has a daughter there—she doesn’t. Back in LA Joe settles back into a lonely life of mediocrity, dead-end jobs and ceaseless churn, but through it all there doesn't seem to be any animus toward the life he has been dealt.

The Brutal Telling

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny, 372 pgs.

The sleepy Quebecois village of Three Pines wakes early one morning to a shock: a stranger's corpse has been found at the local bistro. The villagers are grateful that it was not one of their own found lying in this hub of connection and sustenance, but initial shock and relief give way to dread as Chief Inspector Gamache uncovers more questions than answers. Who was the dead man? Who killed him? and Why was he discovered in the bistro of all places? While there are many unique things about this case, at its root it is like any other, blooming from an emotion. What rotten, corrosive emotion is behind this one?

Armand Gamache is a steady, comforting presence, even in these deeply unsettling times. However, my appreciation for this book's central character does not entirely sway me to liking the story. Despite being the longest book of the series thus far, this novel feels a bit unfinished. Like a painter hoping to mix the perfect shade, Penny adds new colors to this book by asking many questions, introducing new and interesting characters, and uncovering many shiny things. Each of these colorful additions is beautiful and interesting on its own, but once all mixed together, the story painting loses its brilliance in a muddy, brown mess. I am still looking forward to reading the next one, though!

Kills Well With Others

Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn, 368 pages

In this follow-up to Killers of a Certain Age, semi-retired assassins Billie, Mary Alice, Natalie, and Helen have once again been targeted by someone from their past. This time, they're being tracked by the surviving child of a crime boss they killed 45 years ago, and evading the hit is going to take every bit of their wits (and several disguises) to pull off. Traveling the world by boat, train, airplane, and even an occasional car, the quartet of killers must kill or be killed.

This was a fun sequel, though I don't know that it brought anything particularly new to the story. That said, it does give everyone who was hankering for it (AKA everyone who read Killers of a Certain Age) a second helping of the senior assassins. Read only if you've read the first one, but settle in for a fun caper when you do.

*This book will be published March 4, 2025.

The Murderbot Diaries #1-3

All Systems Red by Martha Wells (2017) 152 pages

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (2018) 159 pages

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (2018) 150 pages

I really like the GraphicAudio dramatized adaptations available on Hoopla. They are narrated by David Cui Cui with a full cast of actors providing the other character voices. I'm going to make my way through the whole series because they are each short and that works for my commutes. Murderbot is an unnamed construct (part robot, part organic) Security Unit. Corporations are still very much in charge in this future. He was contracted for Security on a certain planet and under mysterious circumstances he murdered many people. After an attempted memory-wipe and going rogue, he is a free-agent Sec Unit with a lot of guilt. Murderbot is what he calls himself. No one else does. As a character, he is coded as being neurodivergent. He is always anxious and prefers watching media, particularly sci-fi serials, to in-person interactions. Each of these three novels contain some futuristic corporate intrigue and a couple scenes of laser gun action. Murderbot has a quirky way of looking at the world. He is the only recurring character. These three all feel a bit expositional. There is a larger hinted corporate conspiracy that may have major reveals in the fourth book, and characters from book one may return.
 

Apprentice to the Villain

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer, 358 pages

In this sequel to Assistant to the Villain, the action picks up right where the first book left off — with the titular Villain in the king's custody, his assistant, Evie, seemingly dead, and all hope for an evil future lost. However, Evie isn't dead, and is instead adopting the Villain's cunning evil ways to save him, and thwart the king's plans regarding magic and their homeland of Rennedawn. 

Really, the book makes very little sense if you haven't read the first one (or if you've forgotten most of the first one, like I did), though if you look past the plot (which has Evie and the Villain traipsing all over the place in search of Evie's magical mom while also dealing with awkward encounters with their families), the characters are fun and funny, especially Evie's sister Lyssa. There's also a LOT of romantic tension between Evie and the Villain, to the point that I wanted to reach into the book and slap them both upside the head. Romantic tension is all well and good, but I think this took it too far. Will I read the third book when it comes out? Yeah probably. But I won't be looking for highbrow literature when I do.

As You Wish

 As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride by Cary Elwes, 259 pages.

Elwes' very focused memoir follows the making of the cult classic film The Princess Bride from it's earliest stages through to the twenty-fifth anniversary reunion of the cast. To give a more complete picture, many of his former cast members also offer their own memories and thoughts of the makings of the film. In the excellent audiobook, which I listened to, most of these cast members also offered their voices to tell their own stories. 

Although the making of this movie honestly didn't sound particularly wild, I quite enjoyed this book anyway. There was something very relaxing about a group of people gushing about how much they liked each other and how much fun they had making a movie I love. This is a very kind book, and I found it very soothing to listen to. I would recommend it for fans of the movie, or for people interested in the movie making process generally, as Elwes does a very good job covering pretty much every aspect of the making of the movie. 

In the Lives of Puppets

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune, 420 pages

Rather than summarize again, I'm going to make you click this link to my previous post about In the Lives of Puppets. Generally speaking, I agree with what I said back in 2023 when I first read it, though I'll admit that chatting about this with the Orcs & Aliens last night made me consider it more critically. That's why I love discussing stuff with this group! If you read and like this one, I highly recommend Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which I'll be posting about one of these days.

Rhythm of War

 Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson, 1230 pages.

A year after the events of Oathbringer, the war between the god Odium's forces and humanity is in full swing. Dalinar and the coalition forces are scrambling for a way to force Odium into a contest of champions, because a war of attrition favors the side whose warriors are continuously reborn. On that note, even immortal soldiers grow weary after thousands of years of war, and one of said immortals is looking for any way to end the war for good, a quest she pulls Queen Navani into. Meanwhile, Kaladin struggles to accept that staying busy forever isn't a sustainable way to deal with his depression and Adolin and Shallan venture into Shadesmar in a desperate attempt to convince more spren (spirits of the world) to join the fight on their side and create more Knights Radiant.

It is hard to give a concise summery of any book this size, and even more difficult when it is the fourth in a series of books this size. I am glad that I decided to reread this book before starting the recently released fifth book in the series, because it is absolutely full of detail that I didn't remember from the first time I read it three years ago. This book definitely feels like it is building to something, building on existing foundations until they reach the climactic conclusion of the next book. It also made me cry, which is not all that easy for novels to do. I continue to strongly recommend this series, don't be intimidated by the page count. 

The Serviceberry

 The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer, 128 pages

In this short book Robin Wall Kimmerer, best known for the fabulous Braiding Sweetgrass, examines the potential for a more gift-based economy in place of the current scarcity-based economy. While Kimmerer is the first to admit that she is not an economist, she does do an admirable job bringing together sources who are experts in the kinds of things she is writing about, with a special emphasis on the developing field of ecological economics. She also relates many economic issues back to principles of resource distribution observed in nature. 

I got the feeling about halfway through this short book that it was an expanded version of an essay or article, which turns out to be exactly the case. This book is short and digestible, and provides a lot of food for thought. That being said, I do think it suffers a little for being so far outside of Kimmerer's area of expertise. This book feels like a good jumping off point for thinking about different possible economic models. 

Definitely Better Now

Definitely Better Now by Ava Robinson (2024) 341 pages

Emma, a young woman working in the marketing department of a financial consulting firm, has been going to AA meetings three times a week. She's ready to mark one full year of abstinence from alcohol and is now trying to figure out how to navigate the next part of her life. In her crisis years, she needed alcohol in social situations. Since she's been in recovery, her social life equals AA. The only people who really know her are her mother and her AA sponsor, Lola. She has been mostly estranged from her father, who is an alcoholic himself.

Emma feels split between being "Work Emma," the responsible employee who shares only selective bits of her personal life and who does not go to Friday Happy Hours with her coworkers versus becoming a person who shares her life, opening the possibilities of honest conversations and gaining real friendship.

I find this story to be a thorough telling of the trials of recovery, concerns about backsliding (as well as dealing with others who fear that you may backslide), and the difficulty in dealing with people, especially when one's self-doubts continually resurface.

Knife Skills for Beginners

Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin (2025) 313 pages

Paul is a chef who has been contacted by an old friend, Christian, a well known TV chef who is also known for restaurants he has operated. Christian is also involved in a cooking school that brings in small groups of people to learn to cook various types of foods. However, Christian has a problem: he has injured his arms and cannot teach the class, and he asks Paul to fill in for him.

Paul's not that keen on the idea, but decides to go ahead, with the proviso that Christian will be there to help manage the class. The class has 8 participants who are to live in the mansion that houses the school for the intense week of classes. When Christian doesn't show up for the first class, Paul is steamed but handles it the best he can.

A day later when someone is found dead, with his head almost chopped off with a cleaver that Paul used the day before, things look bad for Paul. Paul decides to learn all he can about Christian—whose life has some details Paul has never known—as well as the students, in order to save his own hide.

Paul is a relatable character in many respects. As a benefit, he gives the students—as well as the reader—cookery tips. The book is written by a British chef with a writing style I found unique and enjoyable. (A second book featuring Paul is set to be released this year.)

Railroading Economics: The Creation of the Free Market Mythology

Railroading Economics by Michael Perelman (2006) 224pp

A fascinating (albeit somewhat tedious – this is hard-core econ) look at 19th century industrial development and all the chaos that that includes. Although written 20 years ago, the concepts Perelman details apply today. The idea that the free market is self-regulating is demolished with numerous examples and remarkably clear writing. The title argument tackles the incredibly high capital costs of “creating” a railroad. Simply put, there is no way for a company to exist in a competitive market facing this level of indebtedness. Hence the large number of railroads that went bankrupt and were eventually combined into a very few entities – think J.P. Morgan – industrialist/financier supreme. Sounds simple and intuitive, but the author skillfully and excruciatingly describes the complexity of the various economic theories that railroad builders tied their fantasies and fortunes to. David Ricardo, Adam Smith and a pantheon of economists are featured as are the various schools of economic thought -- laissez-faire, corporatists, socialists, monopolists, Marxists, etc. The trick for me was seeing how the dilemma of high fixed capital costs relate to our current service and finance-based economy. I am sure Perelman would be writing about crypto currencies if he were writing now.