Elly Griffiths' The Stranger Diaries
I enjoy Griffiths' Ruth Galloway series (though could take or leave her other series), so was interested in reading her first stand-alone mystery. Things start off interestingly, with a 40-something English teacher, attempting to write a book about a famous reclusive author (who lived in the building where she now teaches), when a colleague and friend is murdered (the lead detective on the case is also a POV character, along with the teacher's teen daughter). But then things take a decidedly creepy turn. Griffiths does a great job with the atmosphere and tension here, though I did find the ending to be a let-down. It just left me feeling a bit flat after all that awesome build-up. OH WELL. B/B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in March.
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Sunday, January 27, 2019
2019 book 16
Zen Cho's The True Queen
The sequel to Sorcerer to the Crown is more of the delightful same! In this one, a pair of Malaysian sisters with amnesia are being sent to England to go to magical girl school, but the path through the fairy court might not be easy. Of course they encounter characters from the last book, and magical adventures (and romance!) ensue. The plot is slightly more predictable than its predecessor's, but it is charming just the same. A/A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in March.
The sequel to Sorcerer to the Crown is more of the delightful same! In this one, a pair of Malaysian sisters with amnesia are being sent to England to go to magical girl school, but the path through the fairy court might not be easy. Of course they encounter characters from the last book, and magical adventures (and romance!) ensue. The plot is slightly more predictable than its predecessor's, but it is charming just the same. A/A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in March.
2019 book 15
Zen Cho's Sorcerer to the Crown
Rereading this book is always a delight, but especially now, because a sequel is coming out! Anyway, this first one is a Regency-with-magic sort of story, teeming with politics and fairies and witches and education reform and lots of humor. Both protagonists are people of color dealing with a bunch of racist jerks, so readers are cheering for their triumphs even more. Great stuff, one of my favorites, and I can’t wait to see where the story goes next.
Rereading this book is always a delight, but especially now, because a sequel is coming out! Anyway, this first one is a Regency-with-magic sort of story, teeming with politics and fairies and witches and education reform and lots of humor. Both protagonists are people of color dealing with a bunch of racist jerks, so readers are cheering for their triumphs even more. Great stuff, one of my favorites, and I can’t wait to see where the story goes next.
Friday, January 25, 2019
2019 book 14
Sandra Newman's The Heavens
In this surprising and compelling novel, it's the year 2000, and NYC 20-somethings Ben and Kate meet at a party thrown by a wealthy friend, and fall in love. But Kate has a recurring dream where she is actually Emilia, a woman living in England in the 1590s (actually a real person!) and whenever she wakes up from the dream, things are slightly different in the present. But Ben is sure she's mentally ill. Newman's previous novel was The Country of Ice Cream Star, and so I should have expected things to get a little intense, but this is heartbreaking in an entirely different way. I think I loved this? But damn. A.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on February 12th.
In this surprising and compelling novel, it's the year 2000, and NYC 20-somethings Ben and Kate meet at a party thrown by a wealthy friend, and fall in love. But Kate has a recurring dream where she is actually Emilia, a woman living in England in the 1590s (actually a real person!) and whenever she wakes up from the dream, things are slightly different in the present. But Ben is sure she's mentally ill. Newman's previous novel was The Country of Ice Cream Star, and so I should have expected things to get a little intense, but this is heartbreaking in an entirely different way. I think I loved this? But damn. A.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on February 12th.
2019 book 13
Karen Foxlee's A Most Magical Girl
This middle grade novel centers on a proper young girl in Victorian England whose mother sends her to live with her great-aunts--who are a pair of witches! Soon the girl is tangled up in a magical crisis, dealing with wizards and broomsticks and the like--not to mention a new friend, with whom she must take a magical journey to defeat DARK MAGIC. This was a fun little adventure story, good focus on friendship and bravery, but I wanted a little more from the ending. B+.
This middle grade novel centers on a proper young girl in Victorian England whose mother sends her to live with her great-aunts--who are a pair of witches! Soon the girl is tangled up in a magical crisis, dealing with wizards and broomsticks and the like--not to mention a new friend, with whom she must take a magical journey to defeat DARK MAGIC. This was a fun little adventure story, good focus on friendship and bravery, but I wanted a little more from the ending. B+.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
2019 book 12
Maureen Johnson's The Vanishing Stair
The long-awaited sequel to Truly Devious is here, and Johnson does a good job of reminding readers of the events of the first book (which I only vaguely remembered) and getting things moving again. I will say that I was annoyed by the events of the very beginning, which seem to have been included to spur later needless conflicts, and so I went into this a bit crankily. Also, it turns out this series is a trilogy now, so while some plot threads are wrapped up, there is still a general sense of dissatisfaction. I should not have to wait ANOTHER YEAR to find out the conclusion of a mystery!!!! But of course I will read the third one. Crankily, though. B+.
The long-awaited sequel to Truly Devious is here, and Johnson does a good job of reminding readers of the events of the first book (which I only vaguely remembered) and getting things moving again. I will say that I was annoyed by the events of the very beginning, which seem to have been included to spur later needless conflicts, and so I went into this a bit crankily. Also, it turns out this series is a trilogy now, so while some plot threads are wrapped up, there is still a general sense of dissatisfaction. I should not have to wait ANOTHER YEAR to find out the conclusion of a mystery!!!! But of course I will read the third one. Crankily, though. B+.
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
2019 book 11
Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile
I randomly bought this last month when it went on e-book sale, and the timing was fortuitous, because it turns out a movie is in the works starring Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, and Jodie Comer! YESSSS. In this Inspector Poirot mystery, the man finds himself on a tour of Egypt with a large cast of suspicious characters--and much of the action is centered on a rich young newlywed, whose husband was previously her best friend's fiance. The murder doesn't take place till almost halfway through, but Christie does a good job building tension and throwing out red herrings leading up to it. I will note that there is some inevitable Orientalism here, and some of the characters say racist things in the way of genteel white British people of the 1930s. And the mystery itself isn't too hard to figure out, though it's still a fairly satisfying resolution (I disliked the very end though--Poirot playing God is a bit much). B+.
I randomly bought this last month when it went on e-book sale, and the timing was fortuitous, because it turns out a movie is in the works starring Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, and Jodie Comer! YESSSS. In this Inspector Poirot mystery, the man finds himself on a tour of Egypt with a large cast of suspicious characters--and much of the action is centered on a rich young newlywed, whose husband was previously her best friend's fiance. The murder doesn't take place till almost halfway through, but Christie does a good job building tension and throwing out red herrings leading up to it. I will note that there is some inevitable Orientalism here, and some of the characters say racist things in the way of genteel white British people of the 1930s. And the mystery itself isn't too hard to figure out, though it's still a fairly satisfying resolution (I disliked the very end though--Poirot playing God is a bit much). B+.
Monday, January 21, 2019
2019 book 10
Kate Mascarenhas' The Psychology of Time Travel
So this novel is about four British women in the 1960s who invent TIME TRAVEL, which quickly becomes a big ol' business—but it triggers a manic episode in one of the inventors, and she's exiled from the team. Now it’s fifty years later and she is determined to be part of the group again—and meanwhile, her granddaughter is getting caught up in a time travel mystery. Mascarenhas does a great job fitting all the pieces of this story together—I really was not sure at first how this would work, but it totally did, and I liked it a lot. I liked her depiction of time travel culture a lot too—just a really fun and intriguing story. A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in February.
So this novel is about four British women in the 1960s who invent TIME TRAVEL, which quickly becomes a big ol' business—but it triggers a manic episode in one of the inventors, and she's exiled from the team. Now it’s fifty years later and she is determined to be part of the group again—and meanwhile, her granddaughter is getting caught up in a time travel mystery. Mascarenhas does a great job fitting all the pieces of this story together—I really was not sure at first how this would work, but it totally did, and I liked it a lot. I liked her depiction of time travel culture a lot too—just a really fun and intriguing story. A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in February.
Thursday, January 17, 2019
2019 book 9
Agatha Christie's Five Little Pigs
Sometimes you just have to indulge in a classic mystery! In this one, a young woman comes to Inspector Poirot asking him to investigate a murder from sixteen years earlier--a murder where her mother was convicted of killing her father. But she is sure her mother was innocent! Only Poirot can figure out what truly happened--did one of the other five people on the scene do the deed? Another well-plotted and compelling mystery from Christie. The men in it are generally horribly sexist, but the woman are all pretty interesting. I did figure out the solution here, but there are so many balls in the air that I wasn't SURE, which is always nice. B+.
Sometimes you just have to indulge in a classic mystery! In this one, a young woman comes to Inspector Poirot asking him to investigate a murder from sixteen years earlier--a murder where her mother was convicted of killing her father. But she is sure her mother was innocent! Only Poirot can figure out what truly happened--did one of the other five people on the scene do the deed? Another well-plotted and compelling mystery from Christie. The men in it are generally horribly sexist, but the woman are all pretty interesting. I did figure out the solution here, but there are so many balls in the air that I wasn't SURE, which is always nice. B+.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
2019 book 8
Sheri S. Tepper's Gibbon's Decline and Fall
Do you know, I'm not sure I've ever read any Tepper before--at least not since I started this blog in 2004, anyway. I want to read more feminist speculative fiction classics, though, and this one seemed interesting (and surprisingly relevant to Our Current Times). Things start with five college girls in 1959, struggling with the societal issues of the day, vowing lifelong friendship--and then the story jumps ahead to the year 2000 (still slightly in the future when the novel was written), where one of the women, a retired lawyer, is asked to defend a young woman being used as a political pawn by an ambitious politician, and a mysterious epidemic is spreading. At first I was into the narrative voice--everything with the women is great--but things soon turn sinister and grim and weird. (I was also not into the various characters written in dialect.) I kind of wished things were less heavy-handed? I just can't decide how I feel about this. It was awesome to have a group of middle-aged ladies fighting the forces of evil, though. Content warning for a lot of rape. B.
Do you know, I'm not sure I've ever read any Tepper before--at least not since I started this blog in 2004, anyway. I want to read more feminist speculative fiction classics, though, and this one seemed interesting (and surprisingly relevant to Our Current Times). Things start with five college girls in 1959, struggling with the societal issues of the day, vowing lifelong friendship--and then the story jumps ahead to the year 2000 (still slightly in the future when the novel was written), where one of the women, a retired lawyer, is asked to defend a young woman being used as a political pawn by an ambitious politician, and a mysterious epidemic is spreading. At first I was into the narrative voice--everything with the women is great--but things soon turn sinister and grim and weird. (I was also not into the various characters written in dialect.) I kind of wished things were less heavy-handed? I just can't decide how I feel about this. It was awesome to have a group of middle-aged ladies fighting the forces of evil, though. Content warning for a lot of rape. B.
Sunday, January 13, 2019
2019 book 7
Faith Erin Hicks' Comics Will Break Your Heart
I am not super into YA romances, but I am here for books about nerds into comics AND for books by Faith Erin Hicks (this is her first novel that isn’t a graphic novel) so here we go. The story starts with Miriam, working in a comic book store in a small Canadian town, when a cute new boy walks in—who turns out to be the heir to a major comic book company, whose new movie is about to premiere. Except her grandfather co-created those characters, and their families were involved in a messy lawsuit for years. Oops! Obviously Hicks nails the comic book nerd aspect, and the two protagonists are likable enough that I was not annoyed by their romance. She does the family stuff well, but subplots involving Miriam's friends were kind of underbaked. Still, a very enjoyable and fun nerdy read! B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in February.
I am not super into YA romances, but I am here for books about nerds into comics AND for books by Faith Erin Hicks (this is her first novel that isn’t a graphic novel) so here we go. The story starts with Miriam, working in a comic book store in a small Canadian town, when a cute new boy walks in—who turns out to be the heir to a major comic book company, whose new movie is about to premiere. Except her grandfather co-created those characters, and their families were involved in a messy lawsuit for years. Oops! Obviously Hicks nails the comic book nerd aspect, and the two protagonists are likable enough that I was not annoyed by their romance. She does the family stuff well, but subplots involving Miriam's friends were kind of underbaked. Still, a very enjoyable and fun nerdy read! B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in February.
Friday, January 11, 2019
2019 book 6
Kate Heartfield's Alice Payne Arrives
Well, this was VERY fun. In 1788, a biracial bisexual woman poses as a highwayman to try and deal with her father's debts (and to support herself and her partner, a mechanical genius), and if that's not complicated enough, soon a time traveling woman trying to avert a future war (and stop feuding time traveling groups from interfering with history) enters the mix. I liked all these characters a lot and my only beef with the story is that there wasn’t more to it. Luckily a sequel is forthcoming! A-.
Well, this was VERY fun. In 1788, a biracial bisexual woman poses as a highwayman to try and deal with her father's debts (and to support herself and her partner, a mechanical genius), and if that's not complicated enough, soon a time traveling woman trying to avert a future war (and stop feuding time traveling groups from interfering with history) enters the mix. I liked all these characters a lot and my only beef with the story is that there wasn’t more to it. Luckily a sequel is forthcoming! A-.
2019 book 5
Sharma Shields' The Cassandra
Shields' latest novel centers on a young woman in the 1940s, a young woman who sees visions of the future, who goes to work as a typist at the Hanford Site. While at first she doesn't know what their Project is, she is soon seeing terrifying visions of the terrible devastation it will bring--but of course, she is a Cassandra, and no one listens to her. I found this to be fairly bleak, though not exactly how I expected, but also I found it very interesting. It was engrossing, but am not sure I’d say I enjoyed it, per se. Content warning for rape and violence. B/B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in February.
Shields' latest novel centers on a young woman in the 1940s, a young woman who sees visions of the future, who goes to work as a typist at the Hanford Site. While at first she doesn't know what their Project is, she is soon seeing terrifying visions of the terrible devastation it will bring--but of course, she is a Cassandra, and no one listens to her. I found this to be fairly bleak, though not exactly how I expected, but also I found it very interesting. It was engrossing, but am not sure I’d say I enjoyed it, per se. Content warning for rape and violence. B/B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in February.
Monday, January 07, 2019
2019 book 4
Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera's What If It's Us
Two different book club members suggested we read this book, and who am I to deny my book club so much adorableness?? It’s the story of a summer romance between two gay teen boys who have an excellent meet-cute, told from their alternating perspectives. It’s by turns funny, sad, bittersweet, romantic, and super cute, and I like the way it wraps up a lot. Definitely holds up to a second read.
Two different book club members suggested we read this book, and who am I to deny my book club so much adorableness?? It’s the story of a summer romance between two gay teen boys who have an excellent meet-cute, told from their alternating perspectives. It’s by turns funny, sad, bittersweet, romantic, and super cute, and I like the way it wraps up a lot. Definitely holds up to a second read.
Saturday, January 05, 2019
2019 book 3
Sally Rooney's Conversations with Friends
The description of this book (two young friends caught up in the whirlwind of an older glamorous couple) makes it seem like it could be a great book, or an unbearably annoying one, so I had never gotten around to reading it. Then this New Yorker profile of Rooney came out and I was like, oh, I bet this falls more on the interesting side of things. And it does. It ends up being more the story of one of the girls, a college student and poet. If I was still in my twenties, I’d have found the narrator even more relatable, but as someone on the older side of things I did roll my eyes at her a teeeeeensy bit. Still, it was easy to sit down and read this more or less in one sitting—very compelling writing and narrative voice. A-/B+.
The description of this book (two young friends caught up in the whirlwind of an older glamorous couple) makes it seem like it could be a great book, or an unbearably annoying one, so I had never gotten around to reading it. Then this New Yorker profile of Rooney came out and I was like, oh, I bet this falls more on the interesting side of things. And it does. It ends up being more the story of one of the girls, a college student and poet. If I was still in my twenties, I’d have found the narrator even more relatable, but as someone on the older side of things I did roll my eyes at her a teeeeeensy bit. Still, it was easy to sit down and read this more or less in one sitting—very compelling writing and narrative voice. A-/B+.
Thursday, January 03, 2019
2019 book 2
Lianna Oelke's Nice Try, Jane Sinner
This was a very good and very entertaining book! It centers on the titular Jane Sinner, who has left high school (for reasons disclosed later in the book) and is now planning to reinvent herself through a community college reality show. It's all very funny and darkly relatable, told through Jane's journal entries. I guess I could complain that some of the other characters could have used more development, but then again, it is supposed to be a teenager's journal, so that works. Anyway, I thought this was very good and surprisingly deep. A/A-.
This was a very good and very entertaining book! It centers on the titular Jane Sinner, who has left high school (for reasons disclosed later in the book) and is now planning to reinvent herself through a community college reality show. It's all very funny and darkly relatable, told through Jane's journal entries. I guess I could complain that some of the other characters could have used more development, but then again, it is supposed to be a teenager's journal, so that works. Anyway, I thought this was very good and surprisingly deep. A/A-.
Wednesday, January 02, 2019
2019 book 1
Melissa Lenhardt's Heresy
Here we are, back at the beginning! I had heard great things about this book--it's a Western about an all-female gang of outlaws, and should have been right up my alley. I had issues getting past the framing device, though (it's presented as a series of documents collected by a historian, but the likelihood of TWO characters writing journals in such a literary way, complete with dialogue, strains belief), and found it to be a little bit slow. I did like the main characters a lot, and think it would make a great movie. B/B+.
Here we are, back at the beginning! I had heard great things about this book--it's a Western about an all-female gang of outlaws, and should have been right up my alley. I had issues getting past the framing device, though (it's presented as a series of documents collected by a historian, but the likelihood of TWO characters writing journals in such a literary way, complete with dialogue, strains belief), and found it to be a little bit slow. I did like the main characters a lot, and think it would make a great movie. B/B+.
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