Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume (Book II)
I enjoyed this more than the first one—it has more momentum and the narrator has a slightly more positive attitude, so it was less stressful to read. Lots of lovely descriptions. I will say I read something about the third book that spoiled the end of this one, so I was a little impatient waiting for things to go down, but that’s not the book’s fault. It’s a really great entry in a series on its own. A/A-.
Cat Sebastian’s After Hours at Dooryard Books
THANK YOU to Cat Sebastian for another sweet and funny and hopeful book in these troubled times. I think I like everything I’ve read by her, but I am very partial to her New York romances, set in time periods not many people are writing about (this is set in 1968 and is very relevant to our current times!!!!). Anyway, this involves a gay guy who runs a bookstore, the mysterious and anxious stranger who comes to work there, and the first guy’s folk singer sister in law and her newborn baby. There is also a great sense of community—I do love Sebastian’s characters and the way she writes both romance and other relationships. Just a lot of love and good feelings and babies and dogs. And political protests. A.
Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume (Book I)
I’m finally reading the literary time loop novel! It’s projected to be in seven parts, three are out in English with a fourth coming out next year, not sure what the sitch is in the original Danish. Anyway, yeah, this is the story of a woman, an antiquarian bookseller in France, who is trapped in November 18th and it’s maybe driving her crazy a little as she compiles notes and tries to figure out how to escape. Compelling, especially considering how insular it is. Really not sure how future volumes will go. A-.
Angela Flourney’s The Wilderness
I ended this book feeling like “wooof.” I just wasn’t expecting it to get so heavy/relevant to our current times. It’s the story of four Black women and their friendship, bouncing back and forth in time from their twenties to the forties and from POV to POV, up through to the near future. I thought it was great, just wasn’t expecting it to be a gut punch toward the end. A/A-.
Tansy Rayner Roberts’ The Season of Dragons
This was cute—it’s basically Pride and Prejudice with dragons (with humans in a world with dragons, to clarify), from the POV of the Caroline Bingley character (they all have different names, which I appreciated). I can think of at least two other Pride and Prejudice with dragons books—what a funny subgenre! I dislike most Austen retellings/reworkings because they don’t understand that Austen is funny—this book at least has a sweet sense of humor. Perfect light reading. A-.
Tanya Huff’s Direct Descendant
Huff’s books are hit or miss for me, but this was definitely a hit! It’s a super cute lesbian romance set in a small Canadian town full of eldritch horrors! (It’s not at all dark or scary though, there is some tension but this is fairly cozy and funny as these things go.) I’m not even gonna try and explain the plot/backstory, just will say I really enjoyed these characters a ton, and even the predictable bits felt fitting. A/A-.
Kate Wilhelm’s Death Qualified
I bought a novel by Wilhelm a while ago that won both the Hugo and the Locus awards, but then I saw she also has a mystery series and I was in the mystery mood! This felt unusual to me—it’s long and slow and really dives deep on all the characters. It’s also a courtroom drama! Anyway, the story here involves a woman accused of murdering the husband who abandoned her seven years ago—but the reader knows he was the victim of some kind of weird psychological experiment. And it’s also the story of the woman who agrees to take the case, despite having sworn off the law. I definitely thought the end dragged on too long, and was completely over the top, and was also pretty upsetting. Not sure I’ll read any more in this series. B.
Florence Knapp’s The Names
Ah, I do love a Sliding Doors scenario. The story here features a woman and her young daughter who are headed to register their new baby boy’s name—she’s supposed to name him for her abusive husband—and the choice she makes there leads to three very different paths for their family. I read this in one sitting and really enjoyed it (and even cried a couple times). I had mixed feelings on the epilogue but otherwise liked this a lot, great concept and execution. A/A-.
Emma Lathen’s Murder Against the Grain
This was an especially entertaining John Putnam Thatcher mystery, involving a government wheat deal with the Soviet Union (this came out in 1967) tied to a million dollar robbery from the Sloan. Very funny political shenanigans and a solid mystery. A/A-.
Jane Fletcher’s The Walls of Westernfort
Great plot here, involving a young Temple Guard who’s part of an undercover team sent to infiltrate the band of heretics from the previous book—and kill their leaders. But things get complicated as she makes friends and falls for the local potter. As usual, I found the romance a little under-developed, but it doesn’t really get going till later in the book so I had plenty of time to enjoy everything else (and look, I think the characters are cute together, I just don’t like the way this author writes the actual romance). A-.
Jane Fletcher’s The Temple at Landfall
This picks up not long after the previous one, and it’s like one of those romance series where the main character is a secondary character from the other book (though I don’t like how Fletcher writes romance, they’re all just like poof! We’re in love! And I prefer a little buildup!). Anyway, interesting stuff here as the main character is an Imprinter (one of the few people who can magically help ppl have babies in this all-women world), who’s basically a prisoner of the Temple, who make a lot of money off of her services. I liked all the political wrangling in the guise of religious observance, very dryly funny. Her romantic interest is Chip’s friend from the first book, and both have their own engaging plotlines going on that go to some unexpected places. I’m really interested in what will happen next! A-.
Jane Fletcher’s Rangers at Roadsend
Hooray for fantasy with lesbian romances and mysteries! This is set in a world where there are only women. but it’s not all HEY LOOK AT OUR WORLD WITH ONLY WOMEN!!! Though I am curious about the history of the world since it’s pretty clear there were men at some point and this is probably actually science fiction.* Anyway, our main character is a Ranger, and a new member of her squadron is super pretty and also has some past issues that need to be worked out—namely, proving she’s innocent of a murder! I really liked the characters and plot; the romance was slightly saccharine/under-developed, but I really enjoyed reading this. Looking forward to more in this world. A-.
* This is actually all addressed in an appendix, which kind of takes the fun out of guessing!
Melina Marchetta’s Jellicoe Road
Somewhat recently, the NYT books section did a list of dark academia books and this was on it, which a) pleased me because more people should know about this book, and b) confused me, because dark academia brings to mind magic and murder, and this book isn’t dark in that way at all—it’s just very sad! But also hopeful. It’s the story of a (depressed) girl at a boarding school in Australia, dealing with the “wars” the school has with the locals and a troop of cadets, and also piecing together the story of her past and a group of kids who were at the school almost twenty years earlier. But also it has my favorite thing in stories, which Marchetta does so well: being vulnerable and opening yourself up and making friends and people caring about each other. One of my faves.
T. Kingfisher’s Snake-Eater
I was worried that Kingfisher’s latest would be too scary, but it’s really more on the darkish-fantasy side than straight up horror. It involves a woman and her dog (the dog is fine!) heading to her aunt’s in a tiny desert town to escape her emotionally abusive boyfriend, where she befriends various quirky townspeople! And occasionally there are weird spirits hanging around. But it’s all too chill to really be more than occasionally creepy. Not a complaint! A-.
Natasha Pulley’s The Hymn to Dionysus
I didn’t read this when it first came out, bc like, there are SO MANY retellings of Greek mythology, and I was like, enough already! But I like Pulley and some people on Discord were chatting about this one, so I decided to try it. I liked it! It’s funny and sad and sweet and tense! And I feel like it’s not trodding the same ground as everyone else. It was a little slow for my taste but still a good read. A-/B+.
Naomi Kuttner’s The Retired Assassin’s Guide to Country Gardening
Very entertaining story that does what it says in the tin: it’s about an MI6 assassin who retires to a small New Zealand town where he’s soon caught up in a murder investigation. And the prime suspect is the sweet young guy who does his gardening! And also sees ghosts! Luckily an older woman with a mysterious past is there to take everything in hand. Plus there’s a cat. I do think this could have been a bit tighter, but it was very fun and I have already pre-ordered the sequel. A/A-.
