2024 book 141

 Sarah Rees Brennan's Long Live Evil

I love Brennan's In Other Lands, so was eagerly awaiting this one, her first adult novel. And it was one of those books that I liked while I was reading, but was never in a hurry to pick it up again. It centers on a young woman dying of cancer, who finds herself a character in her little sister's favorite book series—and if she can get a specific magical flower, she can heal herself and return to her own world. Except the character she finds herself inhabiting is a villainess on the eve of execution. And so she decides her best bet is to lean into being evil. Some interesting twists along the way for sure and I did giggle out loud more than once, and I ended up being really invested in all the other POV characters. Things get extra entertaining in the last quarter and I ended up liking this a lot. Looking forward to book two. A-.

2024 book 140

 Premee Mohammed's The Apple-Tree Throne

Cool novella about a young war veteran in an alternate version of 1900s England, who’s being haunted by the ghost of his commanding officer. Apparently this is based on a song by Stars?? Extra cool. I really enjoyed the characters and setting; this is like six years old and the author has written all sorts of other stuff since then, but I’d love to see more set in this world. A-.

2024 book 139

 Rainbow Rowell's Slow Dance

Rereading this for book club and it was just as good the second time, so much so that I read it all in one sitting. I just love how Rowell writes characters and relationships and friendships and family. So satisfying.

2024 book 138

 A.G. Slatter's The Briar Book of the Dead

Normally I really enjoy Slatter's books, but this wasn’t my favorite (it’s related to Of Sorrow and Such, which I really liked). It involves a young woman from a family of witches, but she’s the only one without powers (it’s pretty clear she will eventually discover a power if you’ve ever read a book before, but I did like the reveal when it came, so I won’t spoil it). It's pretty slow, though—there are lots of secrets and the reveals are very dragged out. Still, interesting characters and I liked the focus on storytelling. B+.

2024 book 137

 Shelly Jay Shore's Rules for Ghosting

OK, this is a very cute queer romance featuring Ezra, a young Jewish trans guy who 

a) is a doula!

b) is moving into a house full of cool queer people, including his ex-boyfriend

c) for Reasons, has started working at his family's funeral home, which is problematic because

d) he sees ghosts!

e) including the recently deceased husband of

f) his downstairs neighbor, who volunteers at the funeral home 

g) and who he has major sparks with.

Also, Ezra's mom just left his dad for the rabbi's wife--who is the cute neighbor's former mother in law (mother of the ghost husband). 

This book is also SUPER Jew-y, which obviously I am here for, and I loved Ezra's relationships with his siblings and friends. There is kind of a lot going on and the end is a little busy, but it’s all very sweet. A-.

2024 book 136

 Janice Hallett's The Examiner

So Hallett's whole thing is mystery stories involving collections of documents, text messages, etc. This one involves six students in a new arts MA program, and the examiners who are supposed to judge whether their grades are fair or whatever, but instead are reading their assignments and chats with increasing horror and it becomes clear something shady has happened. I did like this, but I think it had some major pacing issues, and the end was all over the place. B/B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 10th.

2024 book 135

 Julie E. Czerneda's A Turn of Light

It took me a hella long time to read this, partially because it's over 800 pages, and partially because I was still getting over covid. But I really liked it! It has guardian toads and carnivorous horses, and dragons and magic, and some romance, and lots of mysterious things going on, but also a whole village of cool people hanging out and harvesting and stuff. The main storyline involves a young girl who dreams of seeing the world, until she finds out she can’t leave her village because of magical reasons, and she learns she herself has magic and comes to understand it. I don't remember where I saw this recommended but I'm glad I did, it was very satisfying. And there's even a sequel AND a third one is coming out next month! Perfect timing. (I might take a break before the sequel, though, just to give my brain a break and read something a little quicker.) A.

2024 book 134

 Madeline Ashby's Glass Houses

So this is billed as a story in which a near-future tech mogul and his start-up team crash land onto a mysterious island, and what’s the deal, and how will they survive. But REALLY it’s a story about one of the women there, the mogul's chief of staff, with lots of flashbacks to how she ended up here. I think the flashbacks and her narrative arc are more compelling than the island stuff, which is actually pretty weak—it feels like mis-marketing. A few interesting surprises and some less cool ones. Good summer kind of read. B+.

2024 book 133

 Peter S. Beagle's Innkeeper's Song

I had always heard good things about this book, and obviously I love The Last Unicorn, so when it finally became available for kindle I picked it up. And at first I was really into it—there's a lot going on, and it’s told from a variety of POV characters, and it feels really lively. But then there’s weirdly a group sex scene that goes on for several chapters? And then it becomes clear everyone is going to have to find and defeat an evil wizard, and I was just like, I don’t think I care anymore. But I wanted to know how it would turn out for some of the characters, so I picked it back up. It ended up being fine. B.

2024 book 132

 Juneau Black's Shady Hollow

I bought this ages ago just because the cover is so cute, and I’m finally getting around to reading it due to rebound Covid. :( Anyway, this has a great concept: it’s set in a town of anthropomorphic animals, and the main character is star reporter Vera Vixen, a fox (her best friend is a raven named Lenore who owns the local bookstore). Things kick off with the murder of the local grumpy toad. I did enjoy the characters and world here a lot, but the mystery wasn’t very interesting. I might check out this series again next time I want something chill, though. B/B+.

2024 book 131

 Kate Atkinson's Death at the Sign of the Rook

It’s a new Jackson Brodie book! And this one somehow involves a murder mystery party*, a series of art thefts, a vicar with no voice, a beekeeping veteran, and of course Reggie Chase. This felt a LOT lighter (and funnier!) than some of the other books in this series and I loved every minute of it. I really hope Atkinson writes more in this vein. A.

* Fun fact: in high school, my best friend and I were VERY into murder mystery parties. Lol.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 3rd.

2024 book 130

 Jordan Ifueko's The Maid and the Crocodile

This is billed as a stand-alone set in the world of Raybearer, but I think you’d be better off reading those first, since some of the characters recur (and I think it would have been easier for me if those details were fresher in my mind). But it’s a good story either way! The protagonist is a girl who has aged out of her orphanage and wants to find a job as a maid, but people think she’s unlucky because of her appearance and her damaged foot. Also, there’s a whole thing where she can see and clean away remnants of magic/feelings/it’s hard to explain. And then she ends up bound to a cursed young man with godly powers. Ok you know what, there’s a lot going on here, plot-wise, and explaining it isn’t getting me anywhere. I really liked this, especially how it ended, lots of cool friendships and a little romance and a little bit of political revolution. Good times. A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on August 13th.

2024 book 129

 Kevin Wilson's Nothing to See Here

Christina recommended this so enthusiastically to me that I immediately bumped it to the top of my to-read list! And it lived up to the hype! I can give a brief plot summary but it won’t capture how compelling this is, and how much I loved the narrative voice. But ok, it’s about a woman working a couple of dead end jobs, living in her mother's attic, when her wealthy best friend from high school—now married to a senator—gets in touch, wanting to hire her to take care of her two step-children, who occasionally catch on fire. This book is so charmingly weird and I love all these weird people caring about each other. So good. A. 

2024 book 128

 Olga Wojtas' Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Golden Samovar

I have Covid (boo) so wanted something light to read, and this fit the bill? It’s about a Scottish librarian who time-travels to tsarist Russia, and she thinks her mission is to help a shy young heiress get married, but meanwhile someone is definitely murdering people. Everything is VERY clear to the reader which makes the protagonist’s cluelessness really frustrating. But there are a lot of very funny and silly moments. I might read the next in the series. B/B+.

2024 book 127

 Casey McQuiston's The Pairing

I will admit the description didn't make me excited to read this book, but I was sucked in by the writing as soon as I started. I actually am going to be vaguer than usual, because I enjoyed all the little plot reveals along the way, but the story involves childhood best friends and young adult couple Theo and Kit, who had a messy breakup in their mid-20s, and now four years later, find themselves on the same food-and-wine tour in Europe. And despite CLEARLY still having feelings for each other, they're sweet horny dummies who just can’t figure it out. There is an aggravating plot where they have a half-hearted hookup contest and I’m just like, can you please figure your shit out already?? This is all balanced by LOTS of descriptions of food and wine, which I was here for. I ended up thinking this was super cute and look forward to whatever McQuiston does next (a novel about one of the side characters here, according to an interview I read!). A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on Tuesday.

2024 book 126

 Tanya Huff's Into the Broken Lands

Perfect example of the sunk cost fallacy: like halfway through I was like, I’m not actually enjoying this, it’s just endless journeying in a land full of dangers led by an insecure heir and a weapon who’s a person, with some really annoying scholars, interspersed with flashbacks to an earlier journey in the same land of dangers. But like, I’ve been reading it all week! If I stop now, that's just wasted time! So I kept going, when instead I could have been reading something I liked better, and who cares if I didn’t blog a book for a few days (I’ve been playing a lot of Stardew lately so have been reading less, too). Anyway, this was fine, I wasn’t into it but I’m sure other people would be. B.

2024 book 125

 Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me

After those last couple disappointing books, it was time for a refresh with a reread of one of my all-time favorites. This book is beautiful and sad every time, and all the better for a reread when you know what’s coming. I always marvel at how a story about game shows and adolescent friendship woes is also a bittersweet story about time travel and fate. So good.

2024 book 124

 Jacqueline Winspear's The Consequences of Fear

I remembered why I hadn’t read the last few books in this series: I’m just not that into them! I had a conversation recently with Christina about how they fit some of the tropes of a cozy mystery (all the focus on family and friends), but they’re not cozy at all. They’re bleak as hell! Anyway, this one involves a little messenger boy witnessing a murder, but only Maisie believes him. Also she’s training spies now so there’s a lot of business with that. I’m going to take a break from these for a bit, I do plan on reading the last two eventually just to see how it all turns out, but I find these books mildly frustrating. B. 

2024 book 123

 Jacqueline Winspear's The American Agent

Ok, that was a little bit of whiplash—I decided not to reread the whole series and just jump ahead to the first one I hadn’t read, but suddenly we're in 1940 and there’s a lot I’m pretty hazy on! Anyway, this one involves the murder of an American woman, a war correspondent. I will say, I do like that this series focuses so much on Maisie and the other characters and what they're up to, but it would be nice if they made more of an effort to solve this crime. Like she doesn't talk to the victim's best friend for AGES, and when she does she doesn’t ask the important questions, as though to keep the mystery going for longer--it's very frustrating. I need to come to terms with the fact that these are a series of historical novels where the protagonist solves crimes sometimes, and not true mysteries. Mixed feelings on the ending, too. But I still like the characters! B/B+.

2024 book 122

 Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs

I was in the mood to read a historical mystery, and this is the book club pick for this month, so I figured I’d go ahead and reread it and catch up on the last few books in the series (normally I like to read the book club pick right before we meet so the details are fresh, but the heart wants what it wants, and mine wants a historical mystery!). I forgot this is like BARELY a mystery, more a historical novel set in 1929 about a woman opening a sort of detective agency and also dealing with PTSD from being a nurse in WWI. She does investigate a shady retreat for wounded soldiers, but this book is mainly giving her (interesting!) backstory. We'll see how book club likes it!