2023 book 185

 Martha Wells' Exit Strategy

Another fine Murderbot adventure, as our protagonist goes on a rescue mission and reunites with some old friends. Not much to say about this one except that it is another fun ride.

2023 book 184

 Martha Wells' Rogue Protocol

The third Murderbot book finds our protagonist on a research mission, and somehow once again reluctantly making friends and trying to protect them. This one is not my FAVORITE, but it is obviously still entertaining! 

2023 book 183

 Martha Wells' Artificial Condition

The second Murderbot book is even better than the first, because it introduces ART, a very smart sentient spaceship friend for Murderbot! There’s also more action and intrigue as Murderbot investigates their past, takes a job with some humans, and once again has gross feelings. So entertaining.

2023 book 182

 Martha Wells' All Systems Red

I LOVE MURDERBOT! I’m doing a Murderbot reread in anticipation of the new book, so obviously I made it this month's book club pick (most of us had read it before and were psyched to revisit, hopefully everyone else likes it too). Anyway, a grumpy protagonist who refuses to admit they have feelings and just wants to be left alone to enjoy pop culture? Relatable. Great action and pacing here too, just a fun story all around. 

2023 book 181

 Sharon Shinn's Summers at Castle Auburn

I have the post-vaccine fever today so reread this in between naps, such a great coming of age fantasy story with a very likable protagonist, learning the complexities of court politics etc. 

2023 book 180

 Lois McMaster Bujold’s Ethan of Athos

I remembered that I hadn’t read all the books in the Vorkosigan series; this one was basically a stand-alone so I had skipped it, so yay, a new book for me! This centers on a doctor from an all-male planet (with weird ideas about women); when their shipment of ovarian tissue (necessary for having new sons) is tampered with, he has to go off-world to get more. Where he immediately runs into Elli Quinn, who's on a job for Miles, and gets sucked into adventures very much against his will. Pretty entertaining stuff and I liked the way it ended. A+/B+.

2023 book 179

 Tanith Lee's Louisa the Poisoner

Y’all, I have no idea what to think or how to feel about this book, except that when I was done I kind of wanted to slow clap. The main character is the titular Louisa, who’s been raised in a swamp by her witchy aunt, who one day brews up a rare and undetectable poison. So Louisa immediately poisons her, and sets out to find a fortune. Lots of poisonings ensue, and an ending I didn’t expect. Very dry, dark humor here. A-.

2023 book 178

 Rachel Neumeier's Tuyo World Companion

I do think it's a little odd that the author put out basically a reference book about her Tuyo universe when she isn't done writing books and the information is bound to change, but clearly I bought it anyway! Because there's a new novella in here! With the Kindle table of contents being clickable it's pretty easy to skip around to the parts you want to read (the interview with the author is worthwhile) or just go right to the novella, which involves one of the young men who’s been a secondary character in a bunch of the other stories, a friendly raid on another tribe, and father-son dynamics. Very satisfying story. A/A-.

2023 book 177

 Adam Mansbach's The Golem of Brooklyn 

So this author has written plenty of novels and co-written humorous non-fiction with Dave Barry, etc, but is probably most famous for writing “Go the Fuck to Sleep,” and I wasn’t sure what to expect here, but I love golems so I figured I’d give it a try. I did almost put it down at one point when The Golem (who has learned English from watching Larry David) is like “why am I here, what crisis is facing the Jews” and his stoner creator is like “I dunno, intermarriage? The Israel/Palestinian conflict?” and I was boiling with rage because like, this book wasn’t written five years ago, and even if it WAS written five years ago, the Tree of Life shooting had already happened! In MY hometown! Antisemitism is on the rise in a scary way, so go fuck YOURSELF, stoner guy!

But like otherwise I was enjoying this mildly ridiculous Jewish-themed dad-fic kind of book, and one of the other main characters is a formerly Hasidic lesbian, and I hardly ever get Jewish lesbian characters, so I stuck with it. Jewish lesbian and golems, in one book? Ok, you get another chance. And she does bring up Charlottesville, and The Golem is ready to stomp some antisemites at another planned rally. But things do not go according to plan. 

This book was kind of weird? Some good character development, some cardboard cutouts (I could have done with way less of the POV of the white supremacist cop). I liked when the author/The Golem brought in bits of Jewish history. The Golem was GREAT all around and the end of this was legitimately interesting. But I have no idea who the audience is for this! Besides, like, me. Lol. A-/B+.

__

A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 26th.

2023 book 176

 Rachel Neumeier’s Invictus: Captive

This is the kind of sci-fi book that is my JAM. It involves a guy from one group of people being rescued from a big space accident by a group of people that aren’t exactly his enemies, but there is a tense political situation. Except everyone has ulterior motives (this is clear to the reader and the information is doled out at a good pace), so there’s almost a spy games sort of feeling to things. Neumeier is doing one of my favorite things she does here, where there’s a sort of cross-cultural clash, but everyone is trying to make things better. This is the first of a duology and the sequel is out next month, and I am very excited to see where this story goes next. A.

2023 book 175

 Minerva Cerridwen's The Dragon of Ynys

This was a cute lil fantasy book about a knight in a village who is forever making the local dragon return what he stole, but when the local baker goes missing, the knight, the dragon, and the baker's wife team up to track her down. And have some other adventures too. Now, this is aimed at a younger audience, so the messaging about acceptance and identity is hammered home a little heavily (most of the characters are queer in some capacity), but still very sweet and chill. Cozy fantasy for sure. A-.

2023 book 174

 T.E. Kinsey's Death Beside the Seaside

As the title indicates, this volume finds our heroines on holiday at the seaside, but the other guests at their hotel are an odd assortment of international travelers. Soon they're tasked with finding a missing scientist but things quickly get out of hand. Another really fun adventure with some really likable characters, but I think I am going to save the rest of the series for a later date so I don't burn out on them. A-.

2023 book 173

 T.E. Kinsey's The Burning Issue of the Day

The fifth book in this series finds our heroines asked to investigate when a suffragette is arrested for arson and murder, but her friends are convinced she’s innocent. This turns into a pretty complicated case (though I did correctly peg the killer pretty early on) with lots of antics from a large crew of compatriots. This series is so fun. A-.

2023 book 172

 T.E. Kinsey's A Picture of Murder

The fourth book in this series has a very implausible mystery involving a bunch of filmmakers and actors visiting the town, but I still love all the characters here and enjoyed it anyway. We also get some more detailed backstory on our heroines and it looks like that will come into play in upcoming books. A-.

2023 book 171

 T.E. Kinsey's Death Around the Bend

The third Lady Hardcastle book finds our heroines accompanying Lady Hardcastle's brother to a friend's estate for a weekend of car racing adventures, except someone dies when one of the cars is sabotaged! Lots of great characters in this one, the writing is just really lively and fun. I did correctly guess most of the solution but it was still entertaining watching it all play out, especially with all the side stories going on. Really feels like a full world. A/A-.

2023 book 170

 T.E. Kinsey's In the Market for Murder

The second Lady Hardcastle book finds our intrepid amateur detective heroines enlisted by the busy police to investigate the possible murder of an unpleasant farmer—not the mention the mysteries of the stolen rugby trophy and the ghost that appears during a seance! Another very pleasant and funny story, I am really digging this series so far. A/A-.

2023 book 169

 T.E. Kinsey's A Quiet Life in the Country

Hat tip to Christine, who recommended this series to me when I said on social media that “I want to read a mystery where someone dies at a fancy house in England!!” This series centers on the widowed Lady Hardcastle, who has an unusually adventurous background, and her longtime lady's maid/friend/bodyguard (the narrator, and a delightful narrative voice), whose background is also unconventional. They’ve just retired to the country in 1908 England and soon come across a body while on a walk in the woods (but don’t worry, someone DOES die in a fancy house!). The mystery resolves kind of quickly, but I really enjoyed all the characters and look forward to more of these. A/A-.

2023 book 168

 Janice Hallett's The Appeal

I enjoyed Hallett's The Twyford Code, and this has a similar cool framing device: it’s all emails and texts, mainly between the people in a small dramatic society about their upcoming play, with the occasional sidebar from two lawyers who are reading said correspondence. I will say this is a little bit slow to start, because while it’s clear something shady is going on, it’s not clear why lawyers are involved until like 2/3 in. And the framing device wobbles toward the end, as their boss sends them additional correspondence and clues to help them figure it out. But the characters are pretty gripping (I said “oh my god, you are SUCH a PSYCHO” out loud at least twice) and I did enjoy seeing the mystery unravel (and being right about a couple things). B+.

2023 book 167

 Margaret Rogerson’s Mysteries of Thorn Manor

This was a VERY CUTE story about the main characters from the previous book being magically locked inside their house, and they have to figure out how to break the spell in time to host their ball! Lots of sweet and funny moments, discovering hidden rooms full of murderous clothing, etc. A-.

2023 book 166

 Margaret Rogerson's Sorcery of Thorns

I liked Rogerson's Vespertine a lot so am finally getting around to trying one of her earlier books. I didn’t like this one as much but it had some cool moments. The main character is a girl who’s been raised in a library full of magical, maybe evil books, but when someone starts sabotaging the magical libraries, she’s drawn into a bunch of adventures. Which makes this sound really fun, but it’s darker than that. I loved the main character and wished we saw more of her with her best friend. The male hero and his demon were also great characters, I wished the romance had been toned down a little bit but it was fine. Some of the writing was just overly dramatic, but that is often the case with YA fantasy. There is a sequel novella which I will check out because apparently it involves a magical house, and I like those as much as I like spaceships with personalities. B/B+.