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. 

Cymbeline

 Cymbeline by William Shakespeare, 166 pages.

Princess Imogen has secretly married a man that her father, King of Britain, does not approve of (despite the fact he is almost universally regarded as the best of men). He is angry because he intended for her to marry his stepson, and in his fury at his daughter's disobedience, he banishes her new husband. This triggers a series of events that will lead to betrayal, scandal, disguises, and old secrets revealed, all as she attempts to get back to her husband. 

After reading Judi Dench's book on Shakespeare, I realized that I haven't actually read a Shakespeare play in a number of years. This one struck my fancy from that same book, so I decided to give it a try. I really liked this play! Although Imogen's stepmother makes for a somewhat weak villain, I did overall really like the characters in this play. I also really liked the mythic, almost fairy tale like, quality that this play maintained. While not my absolute favorite of Shakespeare's plays, I do think that this one is definitely underrated, and it deserves more appreciation.  

Upon a Starlit Tide

Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods, 432 pages

As the youngest daughter of shipping magnate Jean-Baptiste Leon, Lucinde lives what many would consider a charmed life in a sprawling French estate, with tutors, invitations to fancy balls, and her father doting on her as his favorite child. However, Lucinde has always felt the call of the sea, and often sneaks out to swim in the cove and learn how to sail from an English smuggler. When she saves the son of another wealthy family after his ship crashes, Luce's life becomes much more complicated, spurred in part by the man's attentions to her and her sisters.

Set in the 1700s in Saint-Malo, France, this novel is the epitome of historical fantasy, effortlessly mixing elements of The Little Mermaid and Cinderella into a fairy tale all its own. The attention to historic detail was fantastic, but that didn't stop the magic system from being well-woven into the fabric of the world. An excellent story, and I look forward to reading more by Woods.

Murder in the Dressing Room

Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars, 368 pages

When drag queen Misty Divine discovers her drag mother, Lady Lady, poisoned in her dressing room, Misty is determined to see Lady's murderer caught and punished. Unfortunately, the detective assigned to the homicide is more concerned with the stolen vintage dress Lady Lady was wearing, and he's not making things easier by referring to drag performers by their non-stage names and dismissing drag as an oddity instead of a celebrated lifestyle. So Misty takes it upon herself to investigate, and ends up learning way more than she anticipated about her fellow performers.

This was an excellent murder mystery, one that manages to combine a solid mystery with a compelling amateur sleuth who has a legitimate reason for not trusting the police (that's always a pet peeve of mine), as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the world of drag. Drag plays an integral role in the character development and the story as a whole, and manages to not overwhelm the story. I absolutely loved this one, and so far, it's one of my favorite mysteries of the year. I will definitely be reading more Misty Divine books, as soon as Holly Stars writes them!

Yeonnam-Dong's Smiley Laundromat

Yeonnam-Dong's Smiley Laundromat by Kim Jiyun, 320 pages

The Yeonnam-Dong neighborhood of Seoul is quickly being gentrified, and the neighborly feel of the area is evaporating. But with its signature scent, 24-hour warmth, and a mysterious community diary, the Smiley Laundromat has become a place for people to connect with strangers and create new friendships with their neighbors. Told in a series of loosely related vignettes, this book is a cozy, feel-good story of intergenerational neighborhood friends. It was lovely.

The Stolen Queen

The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis, 352 pages

Charlotte Cross was an archaeology student in the 1930s when she helped discover a female pharaoh's tomb in Egypt. Fifty years later, she's helping curate the arrival of an exhibit of King Tut's riches at the Met when a necklace from the female pharaoh's tomb — a necklace previously thought lost in a horrific accident — reappears at the Met on loan from an anonymous source. Pair that with the theft of an important Egyptian artifact and Charlotte's own research (both stolen during the Met Gala, no less!), and Charlotte is forced to confront her own past in an attempt to salvage her career and find the missing artifacts.

I'm a sucker for both Egyptology and the Met Gala, and I read this book with high hopes that it would deliver on both fronts. Instead, it was kinda meh, and focused more on the relationships than on the historical elements. (Also, it drove me nuts that, just for fun, the author created a red carpet for the 1978 Met Gala, when it didn't have one at all — and then told us exactly that in the afterword.) There are better historical fiction titles out there.

The Murderbot Diaries #6-7

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (2021) 168 pages 

System Collapse by Martha Wells (2023) 245 pages

 
As of now, this is the conclusion of the series. I continued with the same GraphicAudio editions with a full cast. I really enjoyed book 6. It is the most straightforward murder mystery of the series. The Sec Unit uses his skills to be a detective on Preservation Station with help from many returning characters. The security staff on the station does not often have to solve murders, so his surveillance and analysis skills are very helpful. Book 7 has the return of the AI ship system ART, who I suddenly realized was missing from the murder mystery adventure previously. This is the first time we really get to see what the Preservation crew does as they go on a planet survey mission. There are colonists, who have faced a dangerous alien contamination incident. Then they learn of a separate colony that the first colony has lost contact with. A small Preservation party travels across the planet to investigate. It becomes a competition to convince the people there that Preservation's humanitarian goals in connection with a University are better for them than the corporation Barish-Estranza's aim to enslave them. The corporation does not present their deal in those terms. Preservation's crew puts together a documentary. It has the excitement of "let's put on a show," but, of course, is more how do we present the most compelling facts to unselfishly help these isolated survivors. A good message to close this series, but I could see this series continuing.

Eve

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon, 624 pages

In this fascinating exploration of evolution and natural history, Bohannon delves into the science of various mammalian and human traits and behaviors and explains how these things may have come to be because of the female of the species. From milk production to bipedalism to the development of language and story, there's a strong argument for each of these originating and developing because of our female ancestors. While there are a few things I questioned while listening to this audiobook (brilliantly read by the author), overall it was a wonderfully thought-provoking book that has me thinking about many historic and contemporary issues from a new angle. Highly recommended!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, 277 pages.

London is recovering from the devastating effects of World War II, and author Juliet Ashton is at a loss for what to write about. That is, until a stranger happens to write her a spontaneous letter after finding her name in one of her used books, and she is drawn completely into the story of the German wartime occupation of the English-owned isle of Guernsey. She is soon exchanging correspondence not only with Dorsey (the original letter writer), but also many other eccentric residents of the island, who she soon considers food friends. Soon Elizabeth is completely enthralled by the allure of the isle of Guernsey and its residents. 

I like a good epistolary novel, and I found the characters in this novel very charming. It was a little light on plot for me personally, and I think it didn't help that this isn't a period of history that is particularly interesting to me. However, I do think that fans of WWII historical fiction, especially centered on women and relationships, would probably like this book a lot. 

Nora Goes Off Script

Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan (2022) 260 pages

Nora usually writes for sappy tv movies that have holidays and romance in them. But her latest script is based on her life and her failed marriage, and doesn't have a happy ending. Except that it does: the script is being be made into a movie for the Big Screen.

Her story's outcome depended on the peace that she found while writing in a charming outbuilding on her property in upstate New York. The movie director wants to film part of the movie at her place. Nora meets the cast, including Leo, the actor who's playing the role of her ex-husband, and while he's very famous, she's not sure what she thinks about him: he helps himself to her beer and hangs out on her porch where she watches the sunrise every day.

After the movie wraps, he asks if he can stay in her little outbuilding for a week, and offers to pay her well. She really needs the money, so she agrees. What she doesn't expect is how Leo melds into her life with her kids. Can a relationship with a man who's famous and has 3 homes last?

The writing style flows and the conversations feel real. In spite of one misdirection by the author which was never addressed, I definitely enjoyed the novel.

Bury Your Dead

 Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny, 371 pgs. 

Unable to resolve terrible events in his own recent history, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache turns to historical mysteries for comfort. He spends his days in the Literary and Historical Society, an enclave of English literature in the midst of Francophone Quebec, distracting himself with research on incidents that occurred many years ago. Inspector Gamache soon realizes he is not the only one ruminating on the past, as an obsessive historian turns up dead in this safe haven of research. While Inspector Gamache works with Canadian history, Inspector Beauvoir returns to Three Pines for comfort and clarity on the team's most recent case there. The two soon realize that the past, like the present, is never quite as it may have once seemed.

This story has a lot of plot lines to follow--the mystery of Quebec's founder, the mystery of the historian's murder, the case in Three Pines, and the recent case which left Gamache and Beauvoir so wounded--so many that I think the impact of each is dulled. As you move through the book, you learn a little about each plot line at a time, meaning that at times it does not even feel like you are progressing, rather taking four steps to the side before moving forward. I do, however, love how unabashedly Canadian this book is. I loved learning about the tense situation between languages spoken in Quebec, and I loved getting a glimpse of Canadian history (the good, the bad, and the ugly) through the Louise Penny's lens. This is an interesting story; it is just a lot. 

The View From Mount Joy

The View From Mount Joy by Lorna Landvik (2007) 349 pages

Joe is ready to start his senior year of high school when he and his mother move because they can't make it on her income in a small town after his father dies. They share a house with his mother's sister in Minneapolis. Joe gets a job at the local grocery store and gets to be great friends with the owner. Joe is considering a career as a journalist. He wishes that Kristi, the head cheerleader at school, would go out with him. Well, that is not exactly what happens. Meanwhile, his best friend is Darva, a young woman who is not afraid to follow her own dream, up to a point.

This novel follows these mostly realistic people into adulthood and shows how life doesn't always turn out the way we plan. Except that Kristi's path is rather strange, and reminds me somewhat of our own society almost 20 years later. Slice-of-life with some weirdness built in. Nice book.

A House with Good Bones

 A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher, 247 pages.

Although she's upset about her archeological dig being delayed indefinitely, archaeoentomologist Sam isn't upset to spend some time visiting her mom. Even if that does mean going back to the house she grew up in, which previously belonged to her late grandmother (a real piece-of-work) and is in a middle-of-nowhere suburb with no cell service. However, it soon becomes obvious something is wrong. Her kind and generous mother seems terrified of something she won't talk about, all of the walls have been painted beige, and there's not a single insect in the her grandmother's prized rose garden. As the ominous events keep adding up, Sam may have to start believing in things she can't imagine. 

This was a pretty neat little horror novel. The tension kept building slowly, in a way that was almost palpable by the climax. One of my only complaints was that it felt like the tension broke almost as soon as I was really starting to feel it. T. Kingfisher's characters are, as always, great. I would definitely recommend this for someone looking for a haunted house book that isn't too scary. 

Carl's Doomsday Scenario

 Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman, 384 pages.

Carl and Princess Donut have reached the third floor of the giant dungeon themed game-show that used to be their planet, and the tutorial levels are over. The billions of people who died so far were just the start, and things only get more dangerous as they reach the Over City, the first of the urban dungeon levels. 

This book is a strong follow-up to Dungeon Crawler Carl, the first book in the series. I am really enjoying watching the seeds being planted that I don't expect to come to fruition for several books yet. This is the kind of series that feels like it has its road-map from the start, and I think it's going to be very satisfying to follow along and see everything come together. This book continues to balance humor and emotional depth in a way I find impressive, and all of the things I loved in the first book are still present in this one. I find these books addictive, and I learned from my last mistake and put the next two on hold at once. 

Dear Edward

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano (2020) 340 pages

Edward Adler and his family are moving from New York City to Los Angeles. The twelve-year old and his 15-year old brother are homeschooled by their father, while their mother makes a living as a screenwriter. The action begins with check-in at the airport before their flight to LA, where the reader is introduced to this family and to several other people who will be boarding. However, we learn early on that the plane crashes in Colorado. Edward is the only survivor.

Two timelines are intertwined from this point: Edward in the hospital (and later at his aunt and uncle's home) recovering from his physical and emotional injuries, and descriptions of things that occurred on the flight, both with the other people and the plane itself. I think the author did a great job dealing with the physical and emotional issues that Edward dealt with and how he eventually is able to move forward again. Napolitano has also researched airplane mechanisms and describes in detail the fateful series of things going wrong that resulted in the crash.

Yes, a bit tear-jerking, but uplifting, too.

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.