2015 book 236

Nancy Mitford's Highland Fling
I have no idea why Duke recently added this to their e-book collection, but I am never gonna complain about access to Nancy Mitford! This is her first novel, so not really as compelling as some of her later work, but entertaining for sure. It's mostly all set at a house party in Scotland, where some Bright Young Things have a bit of a generation gap with the older attendees. There are shenanigans, a romance, and a lot of silliness. This definitely has Mitford's trademark humor, but is also a lot sweeter than some of her better-known works. Warnings for period-accurate racism and anti-Semitism, otherwise nothing to complain about. B+.

2015 book 235

Mercedes Lackey's The Fire Rose
Mercedes Lackey has written like ten million books, so I've never been sure where to start, but someone suggested I might like her Elemental Masters series. This first one is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but with some fun additional plot--it's 1905 California, the Beast is a powerful sorcerer dude/railroad baron who tried to transform into a wolf and the spell went badly wrong, and the Beauty is a great academic girl who finds herself in dire straits and ends up taking a job reading and translating books for the Beast (who can't read b/c he's a weird wolf-man). Now, this book was mostly enjoyable, but I had a few problems, primarily the bad guy, who is beyond villainous. Like, his hobby is actually raping girls who have been tricked into sex slavery. I'm NOT making that up or exaggerating, it's what he does for fun, and he totally wants to rape the main character. I also could have done with less of her assuming no one will ever like her b/c she's an academic/plain. Like, paragraph upon paragraph is devoted to her thinking this. We get it. But I mean, obviously rapey villain is worse. I also thought this was too long--it dragged quite a bit in the middle and I was eager for things to just HAPPEN already, and then everything happens all at once in like the last five pages. By the end, I was sick of both of the main characters and I am not planning to read any more in this series. B-.

2015 book 234

Elena Ferrante's My Beautiful Friend
Well, I'm finally reading Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, and they certainly are worthy of the critical acclaim they've received. I will say that this was a little bit of a slow read for me, mainly because the book (and series, I think) centers on a friendship/rivalry between two girls in a small, poor area of Naples as they grow up, and I found the relationship somewhat stressful to read about. Ferrante really brings this neighborhood and its denizens (and their ever-shifting alliances) to light, and the end made me very curious about what's next, but I may need a little break before I read the next one--they're pretty dense and a little bit exhausting, emotionally. A-.

2015 book 233

Rainbow Rowell's Carry On
OK, so, like, even if I /didn't/ know the background to this book, I couldn't help but keep mentally comparing it to Harry Potter--at least until about a third of the way through, when I got so caught up in things that I briefly forgot Harry Potter existed. There is a lot of good stuff going on in Rowell's fantasy debut--pretty interesting world-building, great characters, whatever, BUT then there is a murder mystery!! And some other mysteries. And it's all really satisfying (EXCEPT for poor Lucy, oh Lucy, you did make me cry)! The love story could maaaaybe have been built up a bit more, but I liked how it all went down, and I definitely liked how things wrapped up. Rowell really has a knack for writing characters you just root for, and I loved her sly little take on chosen one/magic school stories. I was worried this couldn't possibly live up to my high expectations, but it DID, and I want to read it again immediately. A/A-.

2015 book 232

Julie Murphy's Dumplin' 
Let me preface my complaint by saying that I think the marketing did this book a slight disservice--because I was led to believe this book was about a confident fat teenager who enters the beauty pageant her mother runs, and also has a hot love interest, and while the latter two things are true, the most important one--her confidence--is not. Which is soooo realistic, of course! She is a super realistic teenager with super realistic teenage problems and drama. But I wanted a heroine who kicks ass from day one, and doesn't spend the whole book learning to kick ass (with the help of some magical drag queens and adorable sidekicks). This is just a me thing, I realize. I liked most of the book very much--good female friendships, good explorations of grief, lots of Dolly Parton--but thought it veered a little bit into cheesy territory and needed more character development for the love interest and the best friend. Great cover and generally cute story, though. B/B+.

2015 book 231

Claire Vaye Watkins' Gold Fame Citrus
I am perpetually pleased that literary post-apocalyptic books have become a genre, and this is a pretty strong example of the genre. It seems to be set in the near future--though its release is timely, since part of the problem is a massive drought in California (there's also a whole thing with a giant dune desert thing encroaching on North America). Our protagonists are a young couple living in a starlet's mansion in the mountains of California--at least until they encounter a little girl and decide they need to find a more stable life. Which inevitably ends up involving a cultish group headed by a mystical dude--you know the type, he's just like every other cult leader ever. I think I liked this a lot, and liked how it wrapped up, though I definitely feel I should warn everyone that it's all sort of a bummer. But like, what else is a literary post-apocalyptic books gonna be like? B+.

2015 book 230

Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows
You know, I didn't even know this was the start of a series till I got to the last pages and realized nothing was going to be resolved. It's a good set-up for a series--lots going on, lots of characters, lots of moral ambiguity--but I was still a little disappointed. Of course, that's my own fault! Anyway, Bardugo's new series is set in the same universe as her Grisha Trilogy, and you /do/ kind of have to read that one if you want to understand anything about the Grisha, though I think it's set in another country entirely. Basically it's a heist story, where a motley crew of six people have to accomplish an impossible prison break! And all fall in love! Seriously, six people, three couples--not that I wasn't rooting for the couples, it's just weird that every character has a love interest (and it's one of the other characters!). Also, only five of the six are POV characters, so the 6th is pretty under-developed, comparatively, and somewhat weirdly. I guess this sounds like a lot of complaints for what was generally a pretty entertaining story. I think I just have a higher bar for Bardugo based on her past work, and this one was not quite there. It was good though! B+.

2015 book 229

Adrienne Celt's The Daughters
This was a very pretty little book about a line of mothers and daughters, their musical talents, their storytelling, and so on. It centers on Lulu, a successful opera singer who has just given birth, as she meditates on motherhood and on the stories she was told of her great-grandmother in Poland. The writing here is really strong, but I did wish for a little bit /more/, particularly about Lulu's mother Sara. And about the Jewish people on the other side of the great-grandmother's town--there are some interesting hints dropped here that aren't really followed up on. B/B+.

2015 book 226

Alison Goodman's Eona
I've been reading this book off and on for almost a week--more off than on, frankly, because I wasn't as nearly as into it as I was the first one. The protagonist feels a lot weaker here--I say weaker despite her dragon power because she's whinier, easier to manipulate--and she spends way too much time thinking about romance stuff, because Goodman sticks a (gross)  love triangle in the story (the first volume was blessedly without romance). Don't you have bigger things to worry about, like a civil war and all your mystical dragon stuff? And maybe don't be attracted to a dude who intended to rape you to access your power. By the end, I honestly hated almost everything about this book, and was so disappointed about it after loving the first one! I only finished it b/c I had already read so much of it and spent so much time on it (it's over 600 pages!).  UGH.

2015 book 225

Theresa Romain's It Takes Two to Tangle
There was not really enough going on here, plot-wise, to make me care very much about any of the characters, but it was diverting enough reading on Yom Kippur. B.

2015 book 224

Alison Goodman's Eon
It took so long for this to become available from my library hold list that I forget where I saw a recommendation for it, but in some great synchronicity, Rae Carson recommended it just today over at Tor. It takes place in what seems to be a fantasy version of imperial China, where there's a whole thing with dragons that are aligned with the Chinese Zodiac, etc etc, and our titular protagonist is one of twelve boys who may have be chosen as a Dragon Apprentice and get glory and power and whatnot. EXCEPT our protagonist is actually a GIRL, and a disabled one at that! There are some really interesting political/cultural/gender things going on here, some great secondary characters, and good pacing. There is one thing that Eon is really dumb about, though, to the point where I had to keep putting the book down because she was being so dumb. But she works it out eventually, and things get pretty exciting, and I already bought the sequel because the library doesn't have it as an e-book. A-.

2015 book 223

Melissa DeCarlo's The Art of Crash Landing
Well, I'll say one thing for this book--I started reading it (stupidly) at 11 pm, and just couldn't stop till I was done.  I mean, it wasn't amazing or anything, but it had really good pacing, enough that I couldn't put it down! It's about an aimless 30-year-old who finds out she's pregnant, leaves her lame boyfriend, and goes to Oklahoma, where she's inherited her recently deceased grandmother's house--but mainly it's about her trying to figure out her mother's life. This was all a little bit over-dramatic and occasionally cheesy, but there are some great characters here (I particularly liked Luke and Tawny, and the protagonist's stepfather). I did wish for a more careful proofreader--there were noticeable typos/lack of commas, and that always bugs me. But otherwise, this was pretty good. B/B+.

2015 book 222

A.S. King's I Crawl Through It
I have been, historically, a big fan of AS King's novels, but this one didn't quite work for me. I appreciate that King is experimenting with her fiction, I just am not personally into surrealism in my novels (I find it distracting, trying to sort out what the heck is actually going on). Her characters--four teenagers, all at least a little bit troubled--are interesting and likable and sympathetic, I just didn't understand what they were DOING half the time. Her depiction of a survivor of date rape is pretty compelling, nonetheless, and I did like how things wrapped up. I just would have liked this more if it had been a bit more straightforward. B/B+.

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

2015 book 221

Mary Balogh's Only a Kiss
I was a little worried before starting this latest book in Balogh's Survivor's Club series, about a group of men and one women who have severe PTSD from the Napoleonic Wars, because it was the one focused on the women and Balogh's love interests for her women have disappointed me in the past (they tend to be jerks). Luckily, this guy's only thing is that he's kind of bored with his life! He needs a purpose. He has had a nice, easy life, and inherited a title, and so he decides to go check out his new estate in Cornwall--where our girl Isobel lives, because her husband (who was tortured to death in front of her) was the previous heir. The romance has a believable build, the pacing is strong, there's a pretty great subplot with a smuggling ring, AND there are some scrappy cats and dogs. I actually CRIED at one point. This may be a high point for Balogh for me. A/A-.

2015 book 220

Rebecca Hahn's The Shadow Behind the Stars
Hahn's second YA fantasy novel (after A Creature of Moonlight) is just about as interesting as her first. It's narrated by the youngest of the three mythical Fates--the one in the eternal guise of a maiden, the one who spins wool into the threads of people's destiny. When a human girl comes to their home one day, it leads to a series of events that may cause the world to fall apart. I liked this a lot, but wished there was a little more THERE there, just a little bit more! More of the human girl, and more of the Fates, and more of the aftermath. Great writing though, very evocative. B/B+.

2015 book 219

Cecelia Holland's Dragon Heart
Well, this book is UNUSUAL, which made it an interesting read? It certainly didn't follow the usual fantasy tropes? But I'm not sure it worked--at least, not for me. It centers on a royal family dealing with an Emperor/colonial menace, trying to remain independent. Youngest daughter Tirza can't speak, jsut make noises, only it turns out she can talk to dragons. This book kind of gets grindingly depressing, the colonials are perpetually thinking rapey things about the locals, and the end made me think--what was the point of this? Like, I said, it was interesting, but not in a way that struck a chord with me. B.

2015 book 218

Julianna Baggot's Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders
I think the concept of this book is pretty cool--a cult author, her missing final book, her daughter and granddaughters and their unusual lives--but it was just a little bit muddled. It took me several days to read, which is unusual for me! There are some good things here but it was just a slog to read for some reason. B/B+.

2015 book 217

Juliet Marillier's Tower of Thorns
The second book in Marillier's Blackthorn and Grim series (after Dreamer's Pool) is a pretty strong followup to the first, as Blackthorn and Grim have to deal with breaking a curse--with the company of an old friend of Blackthorn's. Both characters are still totally traumatized by PTSD (partially caused, interestingly, by imprisonment) and their friendship and reliance on each other is really unusual for the fantasy books I read--and I appreciate that SO MUCH. We also get Grim's backstory this time, which manages to be fitting and a bit unexpected. Some of this was a little predictable, but the central relationship is great and I actually really liked all the monks in this one. I am really into Marillier's world-building and can't wait for the next one. A-.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in November.

2015 book 216

Angela Thirkell's Pomfret Towers
I was so excited about this book that when I finished it, I immediately attempted to blog about it from my phone (I was babysitting)--of course, that didn't get much beyond the title, but that shows you how caught up I was in this charming and slightly silly story. It was written in the 1930s and it's about one of those house parties rich British people always seem to be having, but there's lots of interesting class stuff and some sly looks at the author/publishing types. There are some annoying people but no one is a villain, most of the characters are nice, and there are some super funny moments. I was just delighted the whole time I read this--Thirkell's writing really carries you along. I can't wait to read more books by her. A/A-.

2015 book 215

Rysa Walker's Timebound
Sometimes, when I am in the middle of a book, I am so annoyed or excited about it that I immediately put the book down and start one of my little blog entries. For this book, I wrote and then deleted THREE different entries before I even hit page 100, because I was sooooo frustrated. So the story: Kate is a teenage girl whose grandmother is secretly from the future and worked for a time-travel agency, and now someone else is CHANGING THE PAST and founding a religion (!!) for nefarious reasons and Kate must stop them! Anyway, eventually the story picks up as Kate must prevent her grandmother (and thus, herself) from being erased from existence. Kate is suuuuper stupid though, it honestly got a little wearing after a while. And I couldn't even with the dumb boy love triangle stuff in this book. Every time I got annoyed enough to stop reading, though, something interesting would happen! (Unfortunately, at least once this involves a dude being rapey.) I didn't actively enjoy this book until past page 250, it was a major slog to get to that point, and I hated that the big ending involved the ridiculous romance and not EXCITING TIME TRAVEL STUFF. I also think the way her mother is treated is total BS. And yet I still want to know what happens next. UGH. B/B-.

2015 book 214

Sigal Samuel's The Mystics of Mile End
Samuel's debut novel is delightfully Jewish. It's set in a Hasidic neighborhood in Montreal, and deals with a slightly dysfunctional family (and some friends and neighbors) and their varying relationships with Judaism and with kabbalah--not to mention with each other. I really enjoyed the brother-sister relationship at the heart of this book, though found some of the secondary characters to be a little underdeveloped, and particularly wished that their mother was less of a cipher. I also didn't entirely buy the sister's motivation for her spiritual journey, but found her experiences to be effective. It's generally a really engaging story, and I liked the ending. I am not sure how much non-Jews (or non-religion-nerds) will get, but maybe the human relationships will carry them through? A-/B+.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in October.

2015 book 213

Lorraine Heath's Falling Into Bed with a Duke
The title here really gets at the core of this book--it is basically about a girl who eventually sleeps with a Duke. This book is like thirty percent sex scenes and has little else going on, plotwise. Our dude has a tragic backstory--his parents were killed in a train accident when he was eight, and he and some other boys were raised by a crazy old Marquis. He also has a whole thing where he's dyslexic, but with numbers. Our girl is the daughter of some people who were in some other books by Heath--this one here is the first in a series, but set in the same world as a bunch of Heath's OTHER series and I definitely felt like I was missing backstory--and her whole deal is that she has a super big dowry BUT is opinionated and plain so the only guys who want to marry her are fortune-hunters. And do you know how these two meet? THEY MEET IN AN ARISTOCRATIC SEMI-ANONYMOUS SEX CLUB! Because he likes sex and she decides to lose her virginity to see what all the fuss is about. WHAT?!???!! Lorraine Heath, that is CRAZY. Anyway, this was pretty predictable, and while I liked the characters, I kind of found the story to be a little bit boring, and I didn't like that I felt like I needed to read 12 other books by Heath to understand the context here.  B.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in October.

2015 book 212

Sylvia Izzo Hunter's Lady of Magick
The second book in Hunter's Series (after The Midnight Queen) finds Sophie and Grey in this fantasy world's version of Scotland for educational purposes, though political and magical plots soon come to light. Once again, I liked the pacing--everything feels built up to and nothing feels rushed; we get a chance to know all the characters. I did think it ended too soon, like there should have been one more chapter, but I guess that's just giving me more incentive to read the next book. Props for several adorable lesbians and for a nice portrait of the central marriage. A-.

2015 book 211

Terry Pratchett's The Shepherd's Crown
Shut up, I'm not crying, you're crying. OK, everyone is crying, because this is Terry Pratchett's last book. Despite being apparently unfinished (it's a complete work, but I guess there would have been at least one more draft), it's a pretty great send-off to Tiffany, and to the Discworld. It mainly centers on Tiffany being overwhelmed with witch business (for spoiler-y reasons), a boy who wants to be a witch, and some elves determined to make trouble. But it ends on a really nice little hopeful note and I really was crying that it was over. A/A-.

2015 book 210

Sylvia Izzo Hunter's The Midnight Queen
Well, this book was as up my alley as any book could be, just about. It's set in an alternate version of historical England (both in terms of actual history and in terms of magic), and focuses on a young man at a magical version of Oxford, when things go terribly wrong and he ends up stuck at the house of a professor who hates him. Luckily, the professor's second daughter is basically the awesomest person ever, the kind of girl who's secretly studying magic and is also just a decent human being. There's also a housekeeper who's more than she seems and a ballsy little sister. (Great ladies here.) Not to mention a bunch of magical adventures, political machinations, and even a little romance. The pacing is good, and even the far-fetched plot twists worked for me. I liked this a whole bunch and am psyched that the sequel is out tomorrow. A/A-.

2015 book 209

Lisa Goldstein's Weighing Shadows
Here's the thing: this book was frustrating as hell, because it came SO close to being REALLY good, and missed the mark. I wish an editor had really kind of dug in and asked for certain things to be developed more, because it feels like there's stuff missing. But the premise is great!! A young woman is recruited by a mysterious agency that it turns out sends people back in time to make small changes!! What, I love time travel! But there is definitely not enough disbelief about the whole time travel concept from the recruits. And then someone from within the agency who disagrees with their mission turns up, and the main character is like "what, I love the agency and am super loyal to them, you're crazy" and we have never seen her be grateful or happy about the agency at all, really. Major telling, not showing. But towards the end the plot gets so interesting, there is some great stuff with patriarchal vs matriarchal societies and female goddesses that I loved, plus fun time travel shenanigans. I really liked that part! The first half just feels so rushed and underdone, though. And historical dudes are always threatening to rape the main character (at least three rape threats!) which I could have done with less of. Bleah. B.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in November.

2015 book 208

Susan Coolidge's In The High Valley
OK, I think I see why these last two weren't in print when I was a kid--they are super boring compared to the first three. This last one in particular is kind of a dud. It introduces a couple of new characters, but one isn't interesting and the other is pretty insufferable, at least until Clover teaches her otherwise, of course. And they then inevitably get married off, also of course. There's no conflict in these last two books and there's less cute stuff in this one, because Clover and Elsie are grown and married. What a disappointment this was!

2015 book 207

Susan Coolidge's Clover
I found out a year or so ago that the What Katy Did series actually has five books, not three! But I've been putting off reading the last two in case I didn't like them. Clearly, I'm finally getting to them. In this fourth one, Katy gets married, and then Clover takes their youngest brother out West for health-related reasons. Lots of funny little moments ensue, along with lots of descriptions of scenery and food. It's all a sort of cheerful industrious Christian sort of story (actually, the Christianity is sliiightly toned down here compared to, say, the first one in the series. Why did I love that book so much? I guess Katy is just that awesome?). All is nice and pleasant. No complaints, though I also wasn't really /excited/ by much of it. That's how these sorts of stories go, though.

2015 book 206

Jaclyn Moriarty's The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie
What I really admire about Moriarty with this one is how effectively she takes Bindy from being someone who's COMPLETELY intolerable to someone who's sympathetic. And I like how she sneaks a little mystery element into the story. And I love all her characters, both the ones we've met before and the ones who are new here. She so nails being a teenager.

2015 book 205

Jaclyn Moriarty's The Year of Secret Assignments
Jaclyn Moriarty's stories are like potato chips--you can't read just one Ashbury/Brookfield book! Haha. Seriously though, I'm not sure how this series became my comfort reading go-to, but they are immensely satisfying. 

2015 book 204

Jaclyn Moriarty's Feeling Sorry for Celia
I am feeling out of sorts today, and have started and failed to get into FOUR different books, which means I needed to reread some Jaclyn Moriarty.  I love that this is first and foremost a book about friendship and family, with romance a thing that's just sort of there but not at all the focus of the story. Instead it's about two nice girls having hard times making friends through letters! And helping each other. Hooray for great friendships and now I am off to read the second one.

2015 book 203

Tessa Dare's When a Scot Ties the Knot
Tessa Dare writes the funniest, silliest, cutest historical romances, and her Castles Ever After series (where a rich guy has left each of his god-daughters a castle) is by far the pinnacle of her works, In this third one, Maddie is a naturalist/scientific illustrator who is painfully shy, and instead of going to London for her season, invents herself a love interest, a Scottish captain away at war, and diligently writes him letters. So imagine her surprise ten years later when same Scottish captain shows up at her Scottish castle and demands that they get married (he needs land to provide for his soldiers!). I was cackling with laughter throughout and totally rooting for this couple despite their ridiculous situation. Tessa Date, I love you, please write ten more books a year for me to read. A-.

2015 book 202

Kate Elliott's Court of Fives
I don't think I've read anything by Elliott before, but I'm going to change that pronto, because this was really entertaining. It's definitely on the Hunger-Games-y side, though it's just an athletic competition and not a battle to the death here--but the heroine is mildly Katniss-y and the hero is a nobleman version of Peeta. Anyway. The great thing here is really the world-building--there's race stuff (the heroine is biracial and people are SUPER racist to her), there's class stuff, there's two cultures clashing. And there's a GREAT and interesting family. Honestly, the romance to me felt really unnecessary, and I wasn't even sure that the protagonist was super into the guy, because she had so much other stuff going on! Who has time to make out with boys when your family is at stake??? Plus creepy mystical stuff is maybe happening! The very end was a little bit eh but I am definitely looking forward to seeing where this story goes next, and to exploring other worlds by Elliott. A-/B+.

2015 book 201

Shira Glassman's A Harvest of Ripe Figs
The third book in Glassman's Mangoverse series finds Queen Shulamit solving the mystery of a stolen violin (I guess her kingdom is peaceful enough that she can solve mysteries in her spare time as a hobby? OK, sure). I immediately pegged the villain and so was mildly annoyed that it took the Queen so long to figure it out, but everything else about this was pretty charming. The writing is coming along, too. I just like reading and supporting Jewish-themed fantasy, but I'm glad that the series is improving and I'll probably read the next one when it comes out. B/B+.

2015 book 200

Nina LaCour's Everything Leads To You
Rereading this for FYA book club, I was relieved to still find it completely charming! I mean, maybe not 5-star charming, but pretty high up there. It's hard to go wrong with cute teenage love, a Hollywood mystery, and lots of into on the production of a movie. I am sure there is a lot to poke holes in here, but I see no reason to. I really love LaCour's books and can't wait to see what she does next.

2015 book 199

Shira Glassman's Climbing the Date Palm
The second book in Glassman's Mangoverse series is stronger than the first. It takes place a few years later, and finds all the characters from the first one getting involved with a prince from a neighboring kingdom, who has come to find help for his engineer boyfriend, sentenced to death by the king (for both political and homophobic reasons). The writing here is a lot more confident,  although some of the dialogue is still awkward, and the engineer's "hilarious" jokes were . . . not. The characters are all likable, though, and I like the use of magic in this world. B/B+.

2015 book 198

Shira Glassman's The Second Mango
I was SOOOO excited when I heard about this book--a fantasy novel that's straight up JEWISH! But I feel like it needed one more pass with an editor. The bones are pretty solid--young Queen Shulamit has only been queen for a couple months, and she's lonely since her girlfriend abruptly left the palace, so when she meets a woman warrior disguised as a man (who just happens to have a horse that can turn into a dragon!) they go off on a quest to . . . find a lesbian who might be into the queen? It's not a well-thought out plan and it's pretty crappy Queensmanship! Plus that all happens in like the first five pages--the friendship isn't really built up at all, they're just suddenly best lady-bros. There is good adventure here, so the story mostly works despite the awkward writing (sooo awkward, and don't even get me started on the random Yiddish interjections). I think the best part is warrior Rivka's backstory--those sections are much stronger. I really want to like this--JEWISH FANTASY!!!!--so I might give the second one a chance. B.

2015 book 197

Hilary Liftin's Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper
Liftin--who has ghost-written celebrity memoirs for people like Tori Spelling, Miley Cyrus, Mackenzie Phillips, and Tatum O'Neal--has written a novel that is very very very much based on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' marriage. Which is interesting enough, but I wasn't really a fan of the way she fictionalized EVERYTHING. All the celebrities, even all the film festivals are made up, but context doesn't always do enough to help figure out equivalencies. And the fake version of Scientology doesn't really seem sinister enough here. I think the problem is the narrative device--that this is actually a book by the Katie Holmes character--so it can't be dishy enough! I mean, it's entertaining, but most of the characters aren't really fleshed out, and it didn't have the fun tone I really wanted from this book (again, that rings true to the narrative voice). I dunno. B.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book is available now.

2015 book 196

Lisa Kleypas' It Happened One Autumn
The second book in the Wallflowers series is also pretty good--it centers on an arrogant Earl and a brash American nouveau riche girl--but I feel the need to complain about the rapiness of this series. In the last book, there was a gross old man who kept threatening to rape the main character (and WAS regularly having not-really-consensual sex with her mother), and the main character here is also threatened with rape. I like my romances sweet and happy and WITHOUT RAPE THREATS, thank you very much. I am definitely bailing on this series, as much as I like everything else about it, because the rapey dude in this one is the hero of the next! I don't care how poor you are, you can't kidnap a drugged woman and attempt to marry her against her will and then expect me to like you! UGH.

2015 book 195

Lisa Kleypas' Secrets of a Summer Night
I love that the central premise of this series is four wallflowers at a ball decide to become friends and help each other find husbands. The husbands are almost (but not quite) incidental to the proceedings! I admit to not liking the dude here at first meeting (he is a little too persistent), but I warmed up to him pretty quickly, and I liked that he came from a middle-class family, instead of being the inevitable Duke. And the woman here is great too, very funny and tough, and in desperate need of a rich husband to support her family. But really, the friendships are the best thing about this one! It was super cute, and it's already pretty easy to see who the next couple will be, and it looks like it's a hilarious "I hate you! Because I love you!" sort of thing. Great! A-.

2014 book 194

Fiona Wood's Six Impossible Things
So this is a companion novel to Wildlife, though I believe it was published first when the books came out in Australia--a few of the characters here make appearances in that book. This one centers on a teen boy whose father goes bankrupt and then comes out as gay, leading to a big move and a new school for the boy. Ugh, Fiona Wood, I love your writing, but your main character here IS a total creep! He falls for the girl next door jsut b/c she's pretty and then READS HER DIARIES! You do your best to redeem him but I can't get past it. I mean, I'm sure real teenagers would totally do that, but I am just way not into creeps as romantic leads. Also, this book needed way more Fred and Lou, and it all just makes me want to reread Wildlife. It looks like Wood has a third book in this universe coming out soon, and I'll definitely be reading that one. B.

2015 book 193

Rhys Bowen's Malice at the Palace
I'm really starting to lose interest in this series. It's just the same, same, same, all over again--Georgie worrying about money, until a task and a place to stay falls into her lap. Georgie worrying about Darcy, until he wins her over again (I have hopes that things are finally going to progress, but god, it took long enough). Georgie complaining about her ridiculous maid. Georgie stumbling across a body and solving a murder. In this one, the queen asks her to show the prince's fiance around London, and the dead body in question is the prince's former mistress. There is some interesting stuff about unwed mothers, plus some ghosts!, but it doesn't really make up for how much this series is spinning its wheels, or the "hilarity" of a countess who doesn't understand English idioms (very overused). B/B-.

2015 book 192

Laura Amy Schlitz's The Hired Girl
Well, this was just a CHARMING book about a young farm girl in 1911, super smart and dying to get a real education, who runs away from her beyond-discouraging family to be a hired girl to a well-to-do Jewish family in Baltimore. There is some interesting--and funny--stuff with religion here, plus some cats, some romance, and lots of talking about books. I especially liked the portrayal of the Jewish family. Really and engaging and moving story; if the heroine seems a little overly naive at times, well, she's 14 in 1911 and most of her worldview comes from the three novels she's read (I should really tackle Ivanhoe one of these days). A-/B+.


__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in September.

2015 book 191

Jane Smiley's The Golden Age
Wow. Smiley has really completed a tour de force with her Langdon family trilogy. I can't even single out anything for this one--which covers 1987 to 2019--because it's all woven together so seamlessly. Seriously, I am sitting here sort of stunned and speechless. I mean, it's not perfect--is it cheap to have one of the family members die on 9/11?--and Smiley's vision of the next few years in America are pretty grim. But there are so many HUMAN moments in this book. GREAT. A/A-.


__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in October.

2015 book 190

Kelly Thompson's Storykiller
This book is basically like if Buffy met Fables, or if Buffy met Seanan McGuire's Indexing series. There's a teenage girl who's suddenly gotten a bunch of powers on her 17th birthday, there's a couple of new human friends, Robin Hood as a love interest, the Snow Queen as a reluctant ally, and a bunch of fictional characters plotting against her for various reasons. It's entertaining enough, though the romance was a little annoying, and there were a LOT of missing commas. Where did all the commas go??? I more or less liked how it ended. But if you're gonna read a book by Thompson, check out the new Jem comic book! It's GREAT. This one is just ok. B.

2015 book 189

Nicola Yoon's Everything, Everything
Normally, I DON'T read YA romances OR YA books about sick girls, but this was getting so much buzz that I figured I'd give it a shot. It centers on a teenage girl with "bubble boy syndrome"--she can't ever leave her house b/c her immune system is so compromised--and what happens when a cute boy moves in next door. At first, I was like, I'm too old to be reading YA romances, because I just kept thinking "Jesus Christ, her poor mother." I'm not really interested in teens being reckless because of TRUE LOVE with the first boy you've ever interacted with in my entire life. And then the plot twist toward the end! The writing here is really great, the main character is relatable and interesting, and I loved that she was half Japanese and half black, but man, this book annoyed me. BUT, that is because I am definitely not its target audience. Should have trusted my instincts and skipped this one. Recommended for ppl who actually like YA romances! B.


__
An advance copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 1st.

2015 book 188

Amy Stewart's Girl Waits with Gun
Stewart's latest (after a bunch of cool non-fiction books like Wicked Bugs and Wicked Plants) is apparently based on a true story, though it doesn't get bogged down in details/transcripts/etc like so many based-on-a-true-story novels do. It centers on three sisters in 1914, and what happens when a rich sociopath runs his car into their buggy and then refuses to pay, and instead starts harassing them in increasingly terrifying ways. There's also a whole subplot where the oldest sister is trying to find a missing baby fathered by said rich sociopath. I know this is mostly a true story, so it can only go a certain way, but I one hundred percent want this to be the start of a mystery series! These sisters are GREAT. B+.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 1st.

2015 book 187

E.K. Johnston's A Thousand Nights
I wasn't particularly interested in reading a retelling of Scheherezade and the Arabian Nights--at least, not till I realized the author was E.K. Johnston, who wrote The Story of Owen and Prairie Fire. And also, it's /not/ really a retelling of the Arabian Nights story--not in any traditional sense. There IS a king, possessed by a demon, who has taken over 300 wives--and all of them have died quickly. Now he's come to a small desert village, and our protagonist is determined to save her beloved sister, and becomes his wife instead. And she does manage to survive longer than the other wives--but it's thanks to her sister, and to other women, not just her own cleverness. I loved how much of this was about how women wield power in quiet ways. Really great, very engaging. B+.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in October.

2015 book 186

Margaret Atwood's The Heart Goes Last
Atwood's latest is another near future dystopia sort of story, though not as complicated as the Oryx and Crake trilogy. In this one, there's been a major economic collapse, mainly on the east coast, and a couple living in their car and increasingly desperate decides to join a community called Positron, which is some sort of symbiotic prison/town set-up (this didn't make much sense to me). Once inside, things quickly turn out to be even more sketchy than a reader might suspect, and shenanigans (dangerous shenanigans!) ensue. There is some creepy consent stuff here, too. This was definitely entertaining, but I did have a lot of questions about it afterward--it didn't quite hang together, maybe because it started as a serialized story? B+.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in September.

2015 book 185

Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies
I feel like Groff is generally a well-regarded writer--I'm a big fan--but I fully expect this book to launch her into the stratosphere even more than Arcadia did. Her portrait of a complicated marriage is one of the most astonishing and riveting things I've read in a long time, and her characters are amazingly vivid. One moment had me sitting straight up and apparently clapping my hand to my mouth in shock (I am on family vacation and my mom asked if I was ok). The writing is also something I don't hesitate to call masterful. I just thought this was so strong--the whole concept, and the way it looks at family stories and the stories we tell ourselves. Strongly recommended. A.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in September.

2015 book 184

Ashley Weaver's Death Wears a Mask
The second book in Weaver's Amory Ames series (at least, I HOPE it will be a long-lasting series), after Murder at Brightwell, is more of the captivating same, as Amory is asked to help investigate a jewel theft--and things quickly turn to murder. I especially like that this is a series where the main character works/cooperates with the police (like the Phryne Fisher books), which does add at least a little verisimilitude. And of course I love the setting. I was less excited about the issues with the protagonist's marriage being similar to the last book--if that keeps on going, it's going to get dull pretty quickly. Otherwise, this is a really fun and entertaining series, perfect for my beach vacation, or for any other time or place, really. A-.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in October.

2015 book 183

Geraldine Brooks' The Secret Chord
Historically, I have been a huge fan of Brooks' novels, so a book about KING DAVID, flawed hero of my people, should have been a slam dunk. And it IS very well-written, don't get me wrong! But like, if you have ever read the story of King David in the Torah, none of this is surprising (though I had managed to forget just HOW MUCH rape there was). It's interesting that the whole thing is narrated by David's prophet Nathan--who is writing the story of David's life, presumably the version that later appears in the Torah, warts and all. And I liked the glimpses of little Solomon (man, how great would a novel about Solomon be!). I guess this just left me feeling a little flat, though it was a really engaging read and definitely evocative. It just didn't feel like it gave me any new insights or perspectives. That's hard, though, when working with a story this old. B+.


__
A review copy was provided by the publisher.  This book will be released in October.

2015 book 182

Stephanie Clifford's Everybody Rise
This book is getting a tooooooooon of buzz, but I wasn't really feeling it. It's about a young woman in New York in the early 2000s, the daughter of a social climber who eventually becomes one herself, and gets caught up in a morass of lies while hanging with the uber-rich New York elite. I'm not sure if we're supposed to sympathize with her--I didn't, really--but she's also not really interesting as a villain or as someone who's morally compromising herself. And the ending didn't feel earned, or even optimistic, since it takes place just before the economy goes downhill fast. I'm not entirely sure what the point of this was? But I admit to not really being interested in novels about rich New Yorkers and their hangers-on. B.


__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on August 18th.

2015 book 181

Zen Cho's Sorcerer to the Crown
Guys, historical fantasy as a genre is my JAM, and Cho makes things even more interesting by having the main characters both be people of color, dealing with a lot of hatred and prejudice. One protagonist, a former African slave raised by the Sorcerer to the Crown (of England), has now become the sorcerer himself, and a very racist campaign has begun against him. The other protagonist is a half-Indian girl who knows nothing of her family, but has some strong magical talent (she is also AWESOMEEEEEEEE in basically every way). Political stuff, magical stuff, and even a little romance ensue, and it is all INCREDIBLY charming. It looks like this is the first in a trilogy, and I can't wait for the next one. A.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 1st.

2015 book 180

Erin Gough's The Flywheel
I think I find overly neat YA romance-type books more tolerable when they're about lesbians, b/c it's just so RARE! The main character here is a teenage lesbian enamored of the girl who flamenco dances at the tapas place across the street from her father's cafe. There's also some drama, as her father is on an extended vacation (????? What kind of single parent of a teenager/small business owner goes on a months-long trek across Mongolia??????) and things are falling apart at the cafe, so she drops out of school to take care of things, AND she's having some friend issues (this was super realistic), etc. Then, like I said, things wrap up overly neatly. But that's fine. It's a good exploration of gay teens figuring out their deal, coming out at their own pace, etc. B/B+.

2015 book 179

Anne Tyler's A Spool of Blue Thread
I was excited when my library e-book of this came in, since it made the Booker longlist this morning! But I was kind of left wondering why. It's a perfectly fine book--the story of a mildly dysfunctional family across a couple of generations--and Tyler tells the story well--I definitely wanted to keep reading. It's not earth-shattering though. There are some nice moments--I like the jumping back in time to get at the truth of the family stories--but there's way too much focus on prodigal son Denny, who isn't really that interesting, and next to no attention paid to the family daughters (I did like everything with Stem, though). I guess I appreciate award attention being focused on women writers working in the domestic sphere, as it were, but this one didn't have me jumping up and down in excitement or anything. On the other hand, I historically have been angry about whatever wins the Booker beating my own personal favorites, so who knows. This was pretty good. B/B+.

2015 book 178

Mary Balogh's First Comes Marriage
I had planned to save Balogh's Huxtable Quintet for vacation, but heck, there's five of them, why not get an early start? There's not much to the plot of this one, but it was very sweet. I liked watching the main couple fall in love, and I liked that the heroine was a cheerful sort who is admired by everyone for her good nature. The guy is your typical stuffy rich snob, at least until he meets said cheerful lady and learns to relax a little. I mean, other things happen, but not enough for me to write a lengthy paragraph or anything. This one was definitely on the cozier side of the historical romances (as opposed to some of the crazier ones). B+.

2015 book 177

Genevieve Cogman's The Invisible Library
Well, this was a mostly entertaining and interesting book about a young (sort of?) woman, a Librarian at the titular Invisible Library, which exists outside of time. Her job is to enter different versions of the world to collect rare books. It's pretty cool. And then she gets a mentee and a weird new assignment--in an alternate London full of Fae and on the brink of chaos--that quickly turns dangerous, and it's all pretty fun, if occasionally overdone.  It looks like this might be the start of a series, but not the one I want to read! I'm super interested in the Library, not in a detective solving crimes in an alternate version of  London. That's been done, you know? I mean, this certainly hints at a greater mythology for the Library, so I assume we'll get some of that in the midst of magical historical crime solving, but still. B/B+.

2015 book 176

N.K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season
Jemisin's latest--the start of a new trilogy, yay!!--is another complicated, amazing, bonkers piece of fiction. It's set in a world where, periodically, major natural disaster extinguish large swathes of life on earth. There are also people who can control rocks/the ground, considered very dangerous (though some are discovered as children and taken to a central sort of facility where they are trained and controlled and their powers are hopefully used for good). I don't want to say anything else for fear of spoilers, except that, as always, there are powerful and moving characters (ladies and men!), a very interesting universe, and a compelling storyline. I'm not actually sure if it's fantasy, sci-fi, or some hybrid, but it doesn't really matter--it's AWESOME. A/A-.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on August 4th.

2015 book 175

Maggie Lehrman's The Cost of All Things
Teenagers already do some really insane and stupid things--so imagine how much worse it would be if they had access to magic spells (that are semi-legal, at best). This book is being marketed as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets We Were Liars, and that . . . is somewhat accurate. It's narrated from the POV of four characters--Ari, who gets a spell to forget her dead boyfriend; his best friend; a friend of Ari's who has purchased a pretty intense friendship spell (interesting issues of consent here); and the actual dead boyfriend. Everyone lies and everyone's magic has side effects and interactions, and I thought this was amazingly realistic considering the premise. Teenagers gonna teenage, and these ones sure do. The end is crazy/melodramatic but this was a very fun read. B+.

2015 book 174

Natasha Pulley's The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
I am pretty sure this is Pulley's first novel, and it's kiiiiinda of a great one? It's set in Victorian London, where a young government telegraph operator receives a mysterious pocketwatch--which eventually saves him from a huge bombing. This leads him to its Japanese creator, who has an unusual ability (I mean, besides clock-making), and eventually to a young woman who wants to be a physicist, but stupid sexist society is not cooperating! I feel like Pulley does a good job with the Japanese-people-in-London aspect of thing, and the relationship between the clockmaker and the young man is really excellent. I did have some mixed feelings about the physicist, but really liked how Pulley ended things (I almost used a clock pun there but refrained, are you happy?). Yes, this was right up my alley, very good stuff. A-.

2015 book 173

Erin Bow's The Scorpion Rules
I accidentally read a sci-fi-ish book and I LOVED IT. OH GOD, HOW I LOVED IT.  The premise here is that it's several hundred years in the future, after the polar ice caps have melted and a bunch of wars have been waged over water, so an AI from the UN was like "eff it" and bombed a bunch of cities and TOOK OVER EVERYTHING. Now world leaders have to send their kids off to be hostages--and if they get involved in a war, their kid DIES. Our protagonist, Greta, a princess from Halifax, has grown up as a hostage and not really thought much of it--at least until a cute boy who doesn't understand the rules becomes a new hostage, and war between their countries seems to be looming. (This boy is kind of a dud, and is really the only weak spot in the book for me, even though he is Jewish, which I appreciated. I did like that Greta seems to be canonically bisexual, though.) I also kind of loved all the mentions of my hometown Pittsburgh, even though most of them are offhanded threats to blow it up. Anyway! This was great, and went in a lot of unexpected directions. I was a pretty big fan of Bow's first two books, but this was a pretty interesting leap forward, and I can't wait to see what she does with this world next (apparently a companion novel is in the works). A/A-.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in September.

2015 book 172

Elly Griffiths' The Zig Zag Girl
I really enjoy Griffiths' Ruth Galloway series, and was excited to read this new stand-alone from her, but it was pretty disappointing. It's 1950, and a young police detective gets involved with a case that he's SURE relates to his work during WWII, when he was part of a unit mainly made up of magicians, working on illusions to trick the Nazis. And that's all really interesting, and all the magicians are great characters! But I guessed the killer really early on, and the motive was amaaaaazingly stupid. Like, so stupid. I /did/ like that the detective's best friend magician is way smarter than he is and figures out a lot more, but seriously, the solution to this one was DUMB. B-.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in September.

2015 book 171

Jacqueline Kelly's The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate
The sequel to The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is more of the same--it's early 1900s Texas, and a little girl, taught by her grandfather, longs to be a scientist, but everyone is sexist! Your feminist hackles will be raised! In this one, a major storm in Galveston sends a cousin to stay with the family, but she's not really as much a character as a plot device. The foreshadowing here is seriously heavy-handed, too, though maybe that's to be expected of a middle-grade book? So they'll like, notice it. I like Calpurnia and her brother Travis a lot though, and find their animal-saving adventures to be pretty entertaining. B.

2015 book 170

J. Kathleen Cheney's The Shores of Spain
I believe this is the final book in Cheney's Tales of the Golden City series (after The Golden City and The Seat of Magic), and it's a pretty good wrap-up. It mainly involves the two main couples trying to solve the murder of the women's mother, or at least to track down the stolen journal that holds the key to the mystery. As always, there are politics (both fantasical and real) to deal with, along with some poor li'l children and whatnot. Marina and Joaquim's story definitely takes center stage here, or at least is more interesting than Oriana and Duilio's. I dunno. I think the very end just left me feeling a little bit flat. Still a fun series though! B+.

2015 book 169

Patrice Kindl's A School for Brides
Kindl's latest, a sequel/companion to Keeping the Castle, had me in RAPTURES OF DELIGHT. One of the stepsisters from the previous book is now running a finishing school in their tiny Yorkshire town, and all the girls there are worried they'll never meet any eligible men to marry. So it's very convenient that a young man breaks his leg nearby, and then several of his friends come to visit! We only get to know a few of the girls, but they're all interesting and likable (one, a budding scientist, is even named Rosalind Franklin!) and I was definitely rooting for all their respective romances to work out. There is even a touch of mystery and intrigue. It was just so easy to get caught up in this book and completely lose track of time. And I was FURTHER delighted to discover that Kindl plans a trilogy set in the town, and cannot wait to see what happens in the third one. These books are so charming and fun, while lightly pointing out that sometimes being a woman in olden times was a trial. A!

2015 book 168

Patrice Kindl's Keeping the Castle
A new Patrice Kindl book is out today--and it's a sequel to THIS Patrice Kindl book, so of course I had to reread it so it would all be nice and fresh in my mind. It's a sweetly silly Jane Austen-y sort of book about a young woman who HAS to marry for money to save her family and their crumbling castle (there's always a crumbling castle), and there are various stepsisters and suitors and puppies and new friends all in the mix. I found it just as enjoyable on this second read, and look forward to reading its companion.

2015 book 167

Melanie Sumner's How To Write a Novel
Well, this was just an absolutely charming, moving, and hilarious book about a girl who's determined to write a novel and make a million dollars for her family (her widowed mother and her eccentric, maybe on-the-spectrum? brother). But REALLY it's a novel about family and love and loss and friendship and the power of writing! I thought the mother-daughter relationship was really interesting, too--one of the best I've read in a long time. Now, is this book perfect? Probably not. IS the end a serious deus ex machina? Totally. Does the narrative voice really sound like a twelve-and-a-half year old's? WHO CARES? I loved this.  It gets an A.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in August.

2015 book 166

Corey Ann Haydu's Rules for Stealing Stars
In this middle-grade novel, four sisters dealing with a mentally ill mother discover that the closets in their house each have a sort of magic, and the youngest sister--the narrator, who longs to be accepted by her older sisters as an equal--has the most magic of all. There's also a whole fairy-tale thing woven through (their father is a folklore professor). In general, I liked this a lot, though sometimes the protagonist's decisions didn't make a lot of sense and seemed to be just to build plot. And I think some of this would be kind of scary for younger kids (I found a lot of it to be somewhat creepy). But the stuff with the sisters and their relationships was pretty well-done, and the writing is strong. B/B+.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in September.

2015 book 165

Val Brelinski's The Girl Who Slept With God
The titular Girl of this novel is the older sister of our protagonist--they're a pair of teenagers growing up in an extremely devout family in Idaho in 1970. Middle daughter Jory is mildly rebellious, but her older sister believes herself to be a servant of Christ--and when she comes home from a mission trip pregnant, she claims an angel from God impregnated her for holy reasons. And then their parents sort of exile the two girls, leading Jory to befriend normal (non-churchy) local high school students--and an ice cream man. Plus a very awesome elderly neighbor. Grace . . . has some other stuff happen. I did have some mixed feelings about the ending--mainly because it didn't go the way I wanted it to go. But isn't that the mark of a good book--that you care so much about and are so invested in the characters that you get actually angry when things don't go their way? I think I really loved this, even though I'm mad about it? The writing is beautiful and Jory is pretty realistic. There is also an adorable kitten. A-.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in August.

2015 book 164

A.J. Rich's The Hand That Feeds You
Look, I admire the backstory to this book, but this book is . . . not great. It centers on a young woman, a grad student, whose boyfriend dies (apparently mauled by her dogs), at which point she realizes everything she knows about him is a lie--and that the other women in his life are being murdered. The thing is, she is an amazingly stupid person, so you don't really sympathize with her for being fooled by a charismatic sociopath. I mean, really, she does all the dumb things amateur detectives in mysteries do, and then some. Plus there is way too much other stuff going on--romantic drama, etc. OK, there are some great dogs in this, but the heroine is a real idiot about everything, so it's a very frustrating read. The writing is also a little awkward at times, and there's a rape plot that I'm not sure is necessary, especially when her therapist characterizes it as part of a pattern of self-destructive behavior! I almost didn't finish this b/c it annoyed me so much, but then it was like, I'd already sunk so much time in, I might as well make sure I'm right about everything. And I was.  C-.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book is available now.

2015 book 163

Scarlett Thomas' The Seed Collectors
Thomas's latest (after Our Tragic Universe, The End of Mr. Y, PopCo, and others) features more of the themes she works with so well--religion, enlightenment, academia,, mysteries, etc. The story here focuses on a complicated family and their connection to a mysterious plant whose seed pods grant you enlightenment--but then immediately kill you. Almost every character in this book is sort of horrible, but also sort of sympathetic, making for some compelling reading. I personally enjoyed that some sections are from the point of view of a robin. Nobody writes such weird, wonderful, interesting books as Thomas, and this one was no exception. A-.

2015 book 162

Mary E. Pearson's Heart of Betrayal
The sequel to Kiss of Deception (GOD, these titles are bad) starts off a little bit slowly, but eventually picks up steam and gets pretty good, though I won't go into specifics to avoid spoiling the first one. I will say that I wish there was less of the protagonist pretending to be into kissing guys she doesn't actually like (for political reasons)--it kind of depressed me, and things do get a teensy bit rapey (not actual rape, just threats of rape--not much better). Luckily there are some kisses with the guy she does like to balance things out. Not to mention some really interesting stuff with the religion/history of the various countries in this world--but you know I'm a nerd for that sort of thing! And Pearson does have a way with a cliffhanger. I think this wasn't quite as strong as the first one, but it definitely has me excited to read the third. A-/B+.

2015 book 161

Judy Blume's In The Unlikely Event
I have been waiting foreverrrrrr (GET IT??) to get this e-book from the library, so it was inevitable that it would be at least a little disappointing by the time I read it. The first half is really strong, centered on a teenage girl growing up in New Jersey in the early 1950s, though there are POV sections from basically everyone else in her town, too, as all their lives are changed by a series of plane crashes (this is all apparently inspired by true events). I really liked this first half--I could relate to the teenagers, and it was all so Jewish, and all of the characters really made this town feel inhabited. But then things sort of descend into drama being wrapping up more-or-less neatly. I guess I forgot what Judy Blume books are like? Or maybe I just expected something a little bit different based on the first half. I mean, it was fine, it was certainly engaging. I just found some of it to be a let-down. B.

2015 book 160

Julia Dahl's Run You Down
The sequel to Dahl's excellent Invisible City is more of the same, which is great! After the events of the first book, reporter Rebekah is well-known to the Haredi population of New York, so when a young man's wife dies in what he considers suspicious circumstances, he gets in touch, asking her to investigate. This is all interspersed with the story of Aviva, Rebekah's mysterious mother. As the two stories start to intersect, a LOTTTTTT of suspension of disbelief is required, but it's all still really well-crafted and interesting. I was also fairly stressed out by some of the stuff in the second half as a bunch of neo-Nazis are introduced, but I /am/ Jewish, so that may not be the case for some readers. I really hope this series keeps on going, and not just because it appeals to my specific interests. :) A-/B+.


__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book is available now.

2015 book 159

Jen Chaney's As If! : The Oral History of Clueless
If any movie deserves to have a 300+ page oral history, it's Clueless. (I freaking love Clueless.) Chaney manages to keep things interesting and flowing for all those 300+ pages too, and makes an effort to five some cultural context by not talking to just the cast and crew, but to a bunch of Jane Austen scholars, the fug girls, and even Ta-nehisi Coates! Anyway, if you love Clueless like I do, or at least find oral histories of movie-making interesting, you should check this out, because it's really well-done. And thank goodness Clueless is on Netflix, because I need to go watch it right now! A/A-.

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

2015 book 158

Lexie Dunne's Supervillains Anonymous
The sequel to Superheroes Anonymous is more of the delightful same, with a plot that I won't get into as it spoils the first book, except to say there is still a lot of action, quipping, and a touch of romance. The writing is still a teensy bit awkward, but the characters are all interesting, and the plot has a ton of momentum. Definitely a fun, light read. B+.

2015 book 157

Jo Walton's The Philosopher Kings
The second book in Walton's Thessaly series (after The Just City) takes place twenty years after the first one, as Athena's City has fractured into several different cities/factions, and Simmea (the main character of the first one) is killed, leading Apollo to go on a quest for vengeance--which turns into something else entirely. I loved all the mythological/religious stuff Walton is playing with here, though was still not super enthused by all the philosophical discussions (they are relevant, of course!). Still, there's plenty of action, and I loved all three of the POV characters (Apollo; Arete, his daughter with Simmea; and teacher Maia), and I /really/ loved everything with Apollo and his family. The end was a GREAT and totally bonkers change-up, and I am eagerly awaiting the third one, which is gonna be crazy. CRAZY. A/A-.

2015 book 156

Taylor Jenkins Reid's Maybe in Another Life
This novel basically has the same premise as the movie Sliding Doors, which is great, because I love books about alternate universes! Our protagonist is a woman in her late 20s who's returning to Los Angeles (where she grew up) after things turn sour in New York. On her first night back, her best friend takes her out, and her high school boyfriend shows up--does she leave with him, or go home with her friend? Each possibility plays out in mostly predictable ways, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. The writing is occasionally a bit awkward--lots of monologues, discussions of fate, lack of contractions, etc--but the friendship between the main character and her best friend is strong enough to keep things going for even this slightly prickly reader. Cute book all around, perfect for a lazy beach day. B/B+.


__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be available on July 7th.

2015 book 155

Mary Anna King's Bastards
King has been making the rounds of blogs I like to promote this memoir (cf this piece on The Toast), and though I don't read a lot of non-fiction, her writing and the description of this book were both pretty intriguing. King grew up in a poor and complicated family, where she was the second oldest of seven (the younger ones also all girls), and where her four youngest sisters were all given up for adoption, not knowing the older siblings existed. But King knew they would come looking eventually, and wanted to be ready for them. The writing here is just excellent--the story moves along really quickly, and I loved King's descriptions of the various reunions, even if a lot of questions go unanswered. But it's almost like everything else besides the siblings is extraneous--this works fine just as it is. Really tender and also, at times, really funny. A/A-.

2015 book 154

Terry Pratchett's Nation
I really think this stand-alone YA book by Pratchett is his most underrated--I don't think I even saw one person mention it when he died, and that's such a shame, because it's GREAT (and works just as well for adult readers). It's set in a slightly different version of history, where a boy's entire island is washed away by a giant wave and he's the only survivor, and that same wave shipwrecks a little British girl (who wants to be a scientist! She is of the Tiffany Aching school of sensible heroines) on said island, and they sort of rebuild civilization. There is some really great stuff here with belief, and family, and history, and friendship, and knowledge. I feel like Pratchett handles the cultural stuff pretty well (setting it in a parallel world helps) and anyway, all these characters are just so great, and he keeps the story moving along. It's been a long time since I first read this, and I was so glad to still love it.

2015 book 153

Rufi Thorpe's The Girls from Corona del Mar
So this is a story about a pair of friends over the years, from their younger years as teens in California--when one thinks of herself as the "bad one," and the other leads a seemingly charmed life, at least until tragedy comes her way--to their disparate, globe-trotting adulthoods. There's some interesting stuff here on motherhood, family, friendship, romance, and the goddess Inanna, but I wished for things to be fleshed out a little more. And as the book went out, I got kind of stressed out and had to put it down for a while. Both girls are occasionally assholes, which I guess is realistic, but makes for some cringe-worthy reading. I also wished for a little more from the ending, which was a tiny bit abrupt. Solid writing here, though, and good characterization. It just kind of bummed me out. B/B+.

2015 book 152

Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer's The Mislaid Magician
I don't think my feelings have greatly changed from the last time I read this, so I'll just add on that it's all very charming and entertaining, etc, and I wish there were more books like these.

2015 book 151

Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer's The Grand Tour
Look, it's the end of the fiscal year and libraries just aren't adding e-books right now, which means I'm revisiting ones I already own. The second book in the Cecelia and Kate series starts off a little bit slowly, as all the pieces are set into motion, but things pick up in the second half as both pairs of newlyweds have to work together to foil an international magical plot. I really like the characters and the world-building in this series, and it's been fun to reread. Looking forward to the third one. B+.

2015 book 150

Robin Benway's Emmy and Oliver
Benway's latest (after The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June, along with some other books I haven't read) centers on teenage Emmy, whose best friend/next door neighbor was kidnapped by his father when they were seven--and now, ten years later, he's coming home. There are some good parts here--I liked Emmy's relationship with her friends, and with her father--but most of this book is suuuuuper cheesy. I mean, it's an engaging read? But it's all really . . . obvious. Emmy's whole characterization is that she has overprotective parents and she rebels by SURFING. It's mildly ridiculous? And seeing Oliver's experience and emotions through her eyes, instead of his, really lessens them. I'm sure this will be popular with actual teenagers but it didn't really do much for me. B.

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

2015 book 149

Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer's Sorcery and Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot
I was in the mood to read something just straight-up charming, and it had been a long time since i read this one, and it was just great! A really well-done epistolary novel between two cousins in England in 1817--well, an England with magic, anyway. And it's up to the cousins to foil some evil magical schemes--and maybe fall for some eligible dudes in the process. CHARMING.

2015 book 148

Michelle Cooper's The FitzOsbornes at War
The final book in the Montmoray series is a well-done look at England in wartime--the various ages/genders/classes of the characters make for a varied portrait, and Cooper portrays Sophie really growing up in a nuanced way. Are parts of this maybe unrealistic? Sure. Are parts heartbreaking? Yes.  Did I like how all the various romances ended up? Definitely (especially the surprising one that I would like to talk about at length but spoilers. Weirdly the second YA book I've read recently with such a resolution). High fives all around. A/A-.

2015 book 147

Michelle Cooper's The FitzOsbornes in Exile
The second Montmoray book finds Sophie and her family in England in 1937 and 1938, and besides being generally delightful and charming, there are plenty of references to the Mitfords and the Kennedys (Kick Kennedy is actually a character and JFK appears a couple times too--DID YOU KNOW that Kick Kennedy and Pamela Mitford were sisters-in-law? I mean, a few years after the events of this novel). I freaking love Mitfords and Kennedys. ANYWAY. A lot of times with YA books, I feel like it's too modern POV/ahistorical for the upper class characters to be pro-Jew, anti-Nazi, etc, but these characters have plenty of reasons to hate Germany and be against appeasement, which is nice, I guess. UGH sorry, I am tired and only talked about the Mitfords when they aren't even really in it and there is so much good stuff here (secretly gay/bisexual boys! Fighting for justice for one's home! Ladies getting s--- done! etc). I also appreciate the lack of attention on romance (well, none of the main characters are really interested in it, despite their aunt's efforts to marry them all off) since there are way more important things going on. I totally want to start the final book right this second but I need to get to bed at a reasonable hour, alas. A/A-.

2015 book 146

Michelle Cooper's A Brief History of Montmoray
I heard about this book through one of Nancy Pearl's recommendations (comparisons to I Capture the Castle are pretty apt)--it's told through the journal of a 16 year old girl in 1936, who happens to be a member of the (fictional) royal family of the (fictional) Montmoray, a basically empty island between England and Spain. And of course, it's 1936, so a small island near Spain is not a suuuuuuper safe place to be. I really enjoyed the narrative voice here, and loved all the characters, particularly the relationship between the protagonist and her slightly older (history-obsessed) cousin Veronica, not to mention the adorable dog. There are two sequels and I'm definitely going to dive right in. A/A-.

2015 book 145

Sarai Walker's Dietland
I finished this book a few hours ago and still have no idea what I think about it. I definitely found the first 2/3rd intriguing (you can see a description on Goodreads) but it was sort of anti-climactic after that. I'm not sure WHAT I wanted this book to be, but whatever it was, it didn't quite manage. Plum is an interesting protagonist, definitely sympathetic, but the Jennifer stuff didn't pan out in a way that I found meaningful, and the very end left me wanting more. B?

2015 book 144

Mary Balogh's Only a Promise
The latest book in Balogh's Survivor's Club series is more of the same--world-weary war vets falling for sassy/sprightly women (it looks like the next book features the sole woman in the club, which will be an interesting change of pace). I like these books despite their being fairly formulaic, mainly b/c I like Balogh's sassy women so well! The one here has been surrounded by gossip and scandal, none of it her fault, and has retreated to be a guest/companion to her mother's elderly godmother. And then said elderly Duchess' grandson comes to visit, and he's the only heir, and he's being pressured to marry, and the women overhears all this and proposes a marriage of convenience! I actually liked how much of this centered on their families, and of the two being supportive of one another as they dealt with their past traumas. Plus there were a bunch of appearances from Balogh's Bedwyns to round things out. Generally cute/entertaining. B+.

2015 book 143

Melina Marchetta's Jellicoe Road
I am just like, urgle burgle, I love Melina Marchetta's books so much! I wanted to reread this one for some cathartic crying, and also it's been a while and the details were hazy. It focuses on a teenage girl at a school in Australia, who's trying to untangle the mysteries of her past (with the help of a manuscript detailing events from a generation before) while also leading her school in annual territory wars against a troop of cadets and the local townie kids. Marchetta does troubled kids and romance and friendship and family sooooo well.

2015 book 142

William Ritter's Jackaby
First of all, I really resent that FYA keeps picking books by male authors when I'm trying to only read books by women. I also resent that this book was kind of dumb. The writing style is pseudo-old-fashioned, except when it's anachronistic (did they really say "stuff" in the 1890s?), and while there's plenty of plot and action, there isn't much character development, and most of the story is predictable. It's about a young runaway woman who's come to America and ends up working as an assistant to a paranormal Sherlock Holmes type (he sees creatures) to solve a murder. Things move along quickly, but I found the characters, especially the main girl (whose name I've already forgotten) to be pretty unbelievable. I also guessed the culprit REALLY early on, which lessened the suspense a lot. I mean, this was fine, just not particularly compelling. B.

2015 book 141

Rebecca Stead's Goodbye Stranger
SHUT UP, I can stay up late reading beautiful books by Rebecca Stead if I want to! Because once I started, I just refused to put this one down. Stead focuses here on the friendships of girls--healthy ones, and unhealthy ones--along with issues like cyber-bullying, and first crushes/relationships. It's the story of Bridge, who survived a horrible accident several years before, and now that 7th grade is starting, she's taken to wearing a cat-ear headband. It's also the story of Bridge's two best friends--the three have vowed to "never fight," though a complicated school year might make that tough. This is all interspersed with one day in the life of a high school freshman--whose identity gradually becomes clear--who's playing hooky from school. Is this as earth-shattering (for me) as Stead's When You Reach Me? No, but it hits some of the same emotional high notes, and was just as satisfying. Highly, highly recommended. A.


__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in August.

2015 book 140

Rainbow Rowell's Attachments
I'm having a really crappy week at work, which meant I needed some really solid comfort reading. Thanks for this one, Rainbow Rowell. I just love this story--it shouldn't work, but somehow it does. And it's so easy to get caught up in it, and thus forget all my website-related woes.

2015 book 139

Carrie Ryan's Daughter of Deep Silence
I was curious about Ryan's latest, after her zombie trilogy, since it was contemporary YA. It centers on a girl who has survived a brutal cruise ship attack--and the only other survivors are claiming that a wave sent the ship down, and not a bunch of dudes with guns. (Of course the other survivors are the hot boy she had a shipboard romance with, and his senator father.) Now it's four years later and she's been living under her shipboard friend's identity (it kind of makes sense in context?) and is determined to finally set the story straight--and take the Senator down. The writing here is amazingly overwrought, even by YA standards, and the story is fairly silly all around, despite its efforts at being a mystery/thriller. It honestly feels like a teen version of the tv show Revenge. But like, the later, dumber seasons. The romantic stuff just makes things worse (I actually said "gross" and "uch" out loud at various points). On the other hand, this is certainly summer popcorn reading, and it kept me engaged, even if I was rolling my eyes basically the whole time. I mean, I didn't like this at all, but it was still entertaining? Is this what hate-reading is? C.

2015 book 138

Eva Ibbotson's Magic Flutes
So in this one, Ibbotson's guy is actually named Guy; he's a foundling raised by a washer-woman, but he's made something of himself and is now MEGA RICH. He decides to up and buy a castle in Austria for the girl he loved--and was rejected by!--when he was younger, who is clearly mainly interested in his money. Meanwhile, he has encountered a scrappy young girl who works backstage at an opera company, and unbeknownst to him, she is actually the princess of the castle he's bought. Everything works out as it must, though this one is a little more predictable than the other Ibbotson romances. I also didn't love the way the Jewish opera-company-owner was described in a bunch of scenes--it wasn't overtly anti-Semitic or anything, just off-putting. I mean, this is cute, but it's not my favorite of these. B.

2015 book 137

Jessica Lawson's Nooks and Crannies
At first I couldn't get over how predictable this book was (I mean, if you've ever read any books before) and was a little disappointed, because I like middle-grade mysteries. Then Lawson through in a couple of twists I didn't see coming, and I could just enjoy this charming story--about a reclusive Countess who invites six children to her home for the weekend, to try and discover which is her heir! Our main character loves detective stories and is determined to solve the mystery--along with several other mysteries that crop up. There is also a super awesome pet mouse involved. The only kind of false note is that the parents of several of the children are EVEN WORSE than, like,  Roald Dahl parents, and since this isn't really a comedic story, it's a bit jarring. I loved the way this wrapped up though. B/B+.

2015 book 136

Sara Novic's Girl at War
This first novel from Novic centers on a ten-year-old girl in Zagreb at the start of the Croatian War for Independence, and it gets pretty dark, as you might imagine (she is briefly a child soldier). It also flashes forward to ten years later, when she's a college student in New York during 9/11, still unable to deal with her childhood traumas. The story flashes back and forth a bit more, fleshing out her story as she attempts to come to terms with the tragedies in her past. I will say, I was surprised when it ended, and was left wishing for more. Not that the ending shouldn't be up in the air--it's not like trauma /has/ an ending really--but I was really enjoying her journey and would have liked to see it go further. Still a solid read--Novic's language occasionally veers toward the melodramatic, but that's not really out of place. B+.

__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book is available now.

2015 book 135

Eva Ibbotson's The Star of Kazan
This is more of a middle-grade book than the other Ibbotson books I've been reading--it centers on a little girl who was abandoned in a church as a baby, and has been raised by the two maids who found her (and, to a lesser extent, by the three professor siblings they work for). She's perfectly content, but still imagines that one day her mother will find her--which is exactly what happens, though things don't go at all as she expects. It's all VERY predictable to a modern adult reader, and so it's a little frustrating to read, but there are still plenty of funny, touching, and surprisingly dark moments to balance things out. B/B+.