2016 book 128

Mara Wilson's Where Am I Now
Wilson--best known for her work a child actress and (at least to me) a popular Twitter account--has written a nice little memoir/essay collection about her time working in movies, her mother's death, her family, her teenage and college years, and how she's now started to really find herself. Parts of this made me cry and parts made me laugh out loud, though a couple parts made me think like, why is someone still in her 20s acting like a wise ol' owl. Like, she is not far enough removed from like, toxic friendships to reflect on those, maybe. BUT most of this is really well-written and entertaining and uplifting and stuff. I like her narrative voice a lot. B+.


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

2016 book 127

Genevieve Valentine's The Girls at the Kingfisher Club
This was one of my favorite books of 2014, and I was glad to see that for the most part, it held up. It's a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairy tale--but it doesn't have anything fantastical about it. It's set in New York in the 1920s, and centers on the twelve daughters of a cold businessman who are basically being held prisoner--but they sneak out to dance at a speakeasy almost every night, for a taste of freedom. Can't wait to discuss this one with my book group.

2016 book 126

Sarah Domet's The Guineveres
This is one of the fall releases I was most looking forward to reading--it's about four girls growing up in a convent home, all left there by their families, but brought together by the one thing they have in common--all four are named Guinevere. They long to escape their dull days and return to the world--but everything changes when several comatose soldiers are brought to the convent to recover from The War (WWII maybe? It's not made explicit). The story is narrated by one of the girls, looking back on her youth, and occasionally dispensing information about the girls' futures, interspersed with stories about various female saints, and I liked it very much until the ending, which I found relatively disappointing from both a character and a storytelling perspective. I think it is meant to be bittersweet, but I found it fairly depressing, and it also left me with a few unanswered questions--and just a general sense of dissatisfaction. B/B+.

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

2016 book 125

Michael Chabon's Moonglow
The conceit of this novel is that, just before he died, Chabon's grandfather, tongue loosened by medication, told him all sorts of stories about his life (particularly his service in WWII). The story is imbued with so many details from Chabon's actual life--or maybe they are just details that FEEL like they're part of his actual life--that it creates a really interesting tension between fiction and memoir. I found the character of the grandfather quite compelling, especially as he ages, but being me, was way more interested in the grandmother, and, particularly, the narrator's mother. And I loved how Jewish it was--of course this aspect especially reminded me so much of my own life and my family, though our stories are mooooostly less dramatic/novelistic. But there are references to so many places I have been, and the narrative voice strikes just the right tone, that I almost felt like I was in conversation with the narrator. Anyway, I liked this very much, even if I did wish for more ladies. A/A-.


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

2016 book 124

Sarah Beth Durst's The Queen of Blood
Here's the thing: this book is the start of a series that has the potential to be really good and/or interesting, but this first volume is SO formulaic that I'm honestly not sure! The world-building is cool--lands are controlled by a queen who has power over spirits who otherwise would destroy humans, and girls with the affinity to control spirits are trained as heirs. Our protagonist is from a village that was completely decimated, and she goes through the usual training/trials, etc, to try and prove herself worthy of being an heir. And there's also a whole thing with an exiled champion/former lover of the queen's. I mean, the writing is fine and the characters are great, but the plot is like cliche-o-rama, so majorly predictable. I liked that sex was treated matter-of-factly (and happened off-screen) and am intrigued by the whole sort-of-matriarchal society, and if the next book focuses on the political stuff, I might read it, but this is like . . . just a good example of the usual Hunger-Games-y fantasy book that I have read a million times lately. B.


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

2016 book 123

Kate Saunders' The Secrets of Wishtide
My new favorite genre is sensible middle-aged ladies solving crimes and getting things done, and this is an outstanding example! Set in Victorian England (and a little bit inspired by Dickens), it centers on a widow whose lawyer brother occasionally enlists her help with his cases, and this one seems simple at first--she's been hired by a wealthy man to investigate the past of the woman his son and heir hopes to marry. But things quickly become more complicated (though are a teensy bit predictable) and it's up to Mrs. Rodd to save the day! I liked this a lot--great characters, great atmosphere, great narrative voice, great stuff with family and female friendships. A/A-.

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

2016 book 122

Peter S. Beagle's Summerlong
It's hard for me not have giant expectations going into a new Peter S. Beagle book--The Last Unicorn is one of my top five favorite books, and I've enjoyed all the other ones I've read by him. And this was enjoyable enough, though on the seriously bittersweet side, for me. It centers on a middle-aged couple (and her lesbian daughter) and what happens when an entrancing new waitress comes to town (town being an island off Seattle). Magic and mystery ensue, but I found the ending mildly dissatisfying. Was it too realistic? Was it that this book felt a bit like Beagle calling it a day? Is that all just an extrapolation from the recent lawsuits and concerns about his mental state? Was it just that no book can ever be The Last Unicorn? I mean, nothing about this was bad and parts of it were very good, it just wasn't as magical as I wanted it to be. B/B+.

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

2016 book 121

Caroline Leavitt's Cruel Beautiful World
Weirdly, this is the third book I've read recently with references to the Manson Family--this is truly the summer of Manson and looking back on the turbulent 60s, I guess! Of course, it's not a main focus here--the story here is about a woman and her two adopted daughters (relatives taken in after their parents died) and what happens when the younger runs off with one of her high school teachers in the late 60s. Parts of this are majorly heartbreaking, and parts didn't work as well for me, but I was very into the story of the adoptive mother and would have been happy to read a book just about her. Really good stuff on family, and grieving, and finding love again here. B/B+.

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

2016 book 120

Sarah Kuhn's Heroine Complex
If you like your urban fantasy superhero-flavored, then this is the book for you! It's pretty cute and effortlessly diverse, focusing on the personal assistant (and best friend) of San Francisco's premier superheroine--but the assistant has some secrets of her own, and some issues come to a head when she's forced to impersonate her boss. Like a lot of urban fantasy, this is fairly predictable, with amazingly cliched romantic scenes and some underbaked characters (the protagonist's little sister in particular), but it was pretty cute and managed to throw in a couple of surprises. I just wished it had slightly more depth. B.

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

2016 book 119

Tana French's The Trespasser
AHHHHHH new Tana French!!! So intense and crazy!! This latest in her Dublin Murder Squad series focuses on rookie Antoinette and her partner, working the homicide of a pretty young woman, but maybe it's more than the usual domestic? I was sure I had figured it out very early on and so spent the entire book reading in an even more heightened state of tension, wondering if I was right, and then alternately being annoyed that neither detective was picking up the obvious. But I appreciated French's look at being the only woman on a police unit like that, and really sympathized with Antoinette. And I definitely thought French stuck the landing. I seriously could not put this down to go to bed, so it's the usual engrossing stuff--it just wasn't the strongest in this series, to me. B+.

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

2016 book 118

Mary Robinette Kowal's Ghost Talkers
Kowal's latest is a departure from the world of her Glamourist Histories, but still a compelling read. It focuses on a young woman during WWI, part of a special group of the British Army--they're mediums, and dead soldiers report to them to get up-to-the-minute intel. But soon it becomes clear that a traitor is in their midst, and is targeting said Spirit Corps. I think the concept here was great, and was definitely emotionally invested in the characters--I cried more than once--and I think Kowal does a good job with the hardships of war. The sort of mystery element--tracking down the spy--was not as effective for me, and I definitely wished the heroine was threatened with rape fewer (or no) times. It seems like this is the start to a series, and I'm intrigued enough by where things ended that I would probably read another one. B/B+.

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

2016 book 117

Ann Patchett's Commonwealth
New Ann Patchett is ALWAYS a treat, and this one felt somehow unexpected. It's sort of domestic in sphere but feels far ranging, focusing on two complicated families--or rather, families that become complicated when one husband marries the other wife and their children become step-siblings, having effects ranging far into the future. Not that any plot is the point here--I felt like the point here was really the characters, and how they grow, and change--or don't change. Just really engrossing and interesting. I feel like I'm talking around things, but I'm not sure how to describe it, except to say that I liked it VERY much. A/A-.


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

2016 book 116

Darcie Wilde's A Useful Woman
Hooray for a historical mystery set in Regency England! All my Jane Austen and romance reading prepared me to like this quite a bit, and the story mostly lived up to my high expectations. It centers on a woman whose father ran off after some major financial problems, and now she survives by helping gentlewomen with party planning and other useful things. But! An acquaintance is found dead at Almack's! And his sister asks her to investigate! And his sister is engaged to the man SHE hoped to marry! Also there is a Bow Street Runner on the case! The solution was pretty predictable and I wasn't super interested in the love triangle being set up for future books, but I found the main character to be interesting and liked seeing all the relationships between the women, as well as their class tension. I would definitely read another one in this series. B/B+.

2016 book 115

Bob Proehl's A Hundred Thousand Words
Proehl's debut novel was right up my alley--and will probably be right up the alley of any comic book or sci-fi nerd. It centers on a woman who once starred on an X-Files/Fringe-ish tv show, and married and had a child with her co-star--but after things went badly, she took the little boy and headed to New York. Now she's on her way back to Los Angeles for the first time in years, stopping to make appearances at comic book conventions along the way. We also get the POV of her son, a budding storyteller, along with the only woman comic book writer at a DC-ish comic book company (or maybe it was the Marvel counterpart--I got a little confused with the fictionalizations of all the real life stuff), and a young male comic book artist working on a smaller press book. I actually thought this was a really woman-friendly book--I worried about how the issues surrounding women and comics would fare with a male author, but he did a pretty good job (I especially appreciated his takedown of the Alan Moore analogue). The writing here is strong--I like stories about stories--and I found it all satisfying--I loved how all the threads came together. I /did/ wish for just a little bit more from the ending, but I can see why Proehl wrapped it up the way he did. Really, I had no major complaints--this managed to be both fun and moving. A-.

2016 book 115

Bob Proehl's A Hundred Thousand Words
Proehl's debut novel was right up my alley--and will probably be right up the alley of any comic book or sci-fi nerd. It centers on a woman who once starred on an X-Files/Fringe-ish tv show, and married and had a child with her co-star--but after things went badly, she took the little boy and headed to New York. Now she's on her way back to Los Angeles for the first time in years, stopping to make appearances at comic book conventions along the way. We also get the POV of her son, a budding storyteller, along with the only woman comic book writer at a DC-ish comic book company (or maybe it was the Marvel counterpart--I got a little confused with the fictionalizations of all the real life stuff), and a young male comic book artist working on a smaller press book. I actually thought this was a really woman-friendly book--I worried about how the issues surrounding women and comics would fare with a male author, but he did a pretty good job (I especially appreciated his takedown of the Alan Moore analogue). The writing here is strong--I like stories about stories--and I found it all satisfying--I loved how all the threads came together. I /did/ wish for just a little bit more from the ending, but I can see why Proehl wrapped it up the way he did. Really, I had no major complaints--this managed to be both fun and moving. A-.

2016 book 114

Dorothy Gilman's A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax
The fourth Mrs. Pollifax book finds our intrepid New Jersey grandmother/spy jaunting off to a hotel/rest home in Switzerland on the trail of some stolen plutonium. And of course she befriends the usual assortment of eccentrics while trying to figure out who the villain of the piece is. This one definitely veers into Orientalism/overtly offensive stereotypes of Muslims, which was a definite bummer and downgrades it to a B+.

2016 book 113

Maggie O'Farrell's This Must Be The Place
O'Farrell's latest (after Instructions for a Heatwave, The Vanishing Ace of Esme Lennox, and The Hand That First Held Mine, among others) is more of what she does so well: complicated families with complicated histories, just trying to figure it all out and make it through. The main figure here is American Daniel, an academic, center of a web of wives, exes, children, and others--all of whom get to have their say. Daniel is actually the weak spot here--I was never really invested in him as a character and didn't really care about his issues, whereas his mourning, eczema-suffering son, intriguing wife (a famous actress who ran away from her life and now lives isolated in Ireland), and charming stepson were all much more compelling to me. But I was definitely caught up in these interwoven figures and, as always, enjoyed O'Farrell's writing. I definitely recommend this as a summer read for those who want something a little meatier but still satisfying. A-.

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

2016 book 112

Robin Stevens' Jolly Foul Play
I LOVE Stevens' Wells and Wong series, and this fourth one was just as delightful as the other three. The girls are back at their boarding school (the series is set in England in the 1930s), now under the reign of a terror of a Head Girl--when said Head Girl is MURDERED, by one of her prefects! Of course Daisy and Hazel are on the case, with the assistance of their dorm-mates and a certain pen pal. I love the focus here on female friendships and find these characters super likable and interesting. Plus really solid mystery plotting! I wish Stevens would write four more of these immediately. A/A-.

2016 book 111

Sarah-Jane Stratford's Radio Girls
This book is primarily the story of a young Canadian woman in London who gets a job as a secretary at the BBC in its infancy in the late 1920s, with all sorts of great female camaraderie and mentorship, great period details, etc. I did wish that a somewhat underbaked political/corporate espionage plot didn't appear partway through--I was much more interested in a woman working a professional job, learning the ropes, helping to plan radio programs, and so on, and just when all of that was getting really interesting, a sort of mystery element would take over. It just wasn't necessary! The characters and settings and office politics and secretly gay people and proto-feminism (women in England get the vote during the course of the story) are perfectly interesting without villainous fascists interfering. I was psyched to read the author's note at the end that several of the characters were actual historical figures, and that Hilda Matheson really was that awesome. Fun stuff! A-/B+.

2016 book 110

Dorothy Gilman's The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax
I think the third Mrs Pollifax book is my favorite so far--the plot works a little better than the others (though they are all fine, I never felt like Mrs Pollifax was doing anything dumb here), there's no period-appropriate racism, there are a bunch of fun new characters, etc. Plus, let me just describe the premise to you: Mrs Pollifax is being sent to Bulgaria (remember, it's 1971 and there's the Cold War), smuggling eight passports IN HER HAT! And of course she randomly befriends a bunch of young hippies and all sorts of mishegas ensues and she GETS THINGS DONE. I LOVE that there is a series about a grandma spy, please someone make this into a Netflix series. It would be a period piece! A lighter version of The Americans! Surely other people would watch that. A/A-.

2016 book 109

Loretta Chase's Silk is for Seduction
My friend Erin read this recently, and based on her review, it should have been right up my alley--it centers on the oldest of three sisters from a good family who are now super classy dressmakers trying to get more noblewomen to come to their shop, so she's determined to get some Duke's attention so his future wife will shop there (which in my opinion is a very silly plan). I think I wanted this to have a little more plot and a little less lusty thoughts--they are just ogling each other from the moment they meet, so there isn't any buildup, and most of the story is about them having makeouts and falling for each other. I loved the three sisters and their relationship, though, and also really liked the girl the Duke is expected to marry (I didn't really like the Duke, who is the sort of domineering type that's meant to be romantic, and in fact kind of wished the two ladies would run off together). The writing was also a little more overwrought than I usually like. I mean, it's a super cute story, I just wanted a little bit more. B.

2016 book 108

Virginia Zimmerman's The Rosemary Spell
First of all, I really think the publishers did this book a disservice with this cover--it looks like a cliched YA book about witches, when actually it's a sweet middle grade book about book nerds, growing up, family, Shakespeare, and a little bit of magic. (It also namedrops Rebecca Stead and Edward Eager, two of my favorite authors, so I know the author here is a kindred spirit.) It centers on thirteen-year-old Rosemary, her best friend Adam, and Adam's older sister--they've always been a trio of kids reading and talking about reading, but now Shelby is sixteen and doing teenage things and Rosemary feels left behind. Which is of course when she discovers an old book with what seems to be some magical properties, and things quickly go awry. Not in a wacky Edward Eager way, either. I felt like this book pulled some of its punches but that was sort of a relief, I guess? I really liked the writing here--it felt very natural--and enjoyed the characters a lot--it came really close to being GREAT. I will definitely read whatever Zimmermann does next. B+.

2016 book 107

Tamora Pierce's Wild Magic
After seeing adult Daine--who has magical powers with animals--in action in the Protector of the Small series, I was excited to check out this earlier series by Pierce and get her whole story. I didn't really feel this though. I didn't love the way Pierce wrote her (particularly her dialogue, which had some really inconsistent dialect going on), and also just had mixed feelings about her as a character (whereas usually I am rooting for Pierce's heroines in a major way). She is just kind of blah, despite her cool animal powers! It was all just a little too overly written for my taste. I also admit that knowing adult Daine ends up with the guy who is her much older teacher here squicked me out a little. Like, how is that going to go down? I'm not sure I'm going to read the sequels--are they better? B/B-.

2016 book 106

Dorothy Gilman's The Amazing Mrs Pollifax
The second book in Gilman's Mrs Pollifax series is even awesomer than the first one. I can't believe an author in the 1960s wrote a whole series about a New Jersey grandma GETTING S--T DONE!!! In this one, Mrs. Pollifax's CIA contact rushes her off to Istanbul to try and meet with a defecting spy--who is also a middle-aged lady! (There are so many awesome older ladies in this book, it just made me super happy.) This one also has surprisingly little 1960s racism (though the depiction of the Roma is slightly romanticized). I mean, Mrs Pollifax is a TERRIBLE spy, but she is so funny and resourceful that she makes it work. I love it! A/A-.

2016 book 105

Alison Umminger's American Girls
I feel sort of bad for Alison Umminger, because who could have known her book that heavily references the Manson Girls would be released as Emma Cline's book of the summer, which is also about the Manson Girls? Of course, Umminger's book isn't /really/ about them--it's about a teenage girl, fleeing family problems and other issues, who runs away to her older sister, a young, struggling actress in LA. And of course she ends up hanging out on various sets and meeting celebrities--but she's also hired to research the Manson Girls for her sister's ex-boyfriend. Umminger is straight up telling a story about the American Dream, and family, and how even being a "regular" girl is hard, and so on. It's definitely engaging, if not entirely believable. But I hope it will be a hit with the teens. A-/B+.

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

2016 book 104

Dorothy Gilman's The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
Another charming old book as a Kindle Daily Deal! This is the start of a series that I have to think is at least a little bit hilarious--in this one, the protagonist, the titular Mrs. Pollifax, a widow in her 60s, decides she's bored of being a respectable member of the Garden Club and jaunts off to DC to ask to become a spy. AND THEY'RE ALL, SURE! We totally need someone to go be a tourist in Mexico and pick up a package! Off ya go! Things quickly go awry, but Mrs. Pollifax is pretty effing great--I mean, you never see a character like this. I want to see like Helen Mirren play her (except that Mrs. Pollifax is from New Jersey). This was written in the 60s and the CIA here is very concerned about "Red China," so there is a little bit of racism, to forewarn you all. I definitely am going to read more of these. Heh. A-.

2016 book 103

Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing
This seems to be one of the big summer buzz books--and with good reason, because it's excellent. It's the story of a family, from the 1700s to the present, each chapter recounting a new generation--and it's also a pretty solid history of the slave trade, as the family originates in what is now Ghana. Although Gyasi does not shy away from the brutality of the slave trade, she doesn't dwell on it either, and I didn't find this to be an upsetting read--instead, a compelling and ultimately hopeful one. Really strong writing, excellent atmosphere, great characterization. Because of the structure, we never get to know the characters in great depth, but their stories drift down through their descendants to good effect. A/A-.

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

2016 book 102

D.E. Stevenson's Celia's House
Like the previous Stevenson book I read, this was recently a Kindle Daily Deal--but I one hundred percent would have paid full price for it. At first I was like, this is just one of those delightful old British books about nice, friendly upper class people, and good things happen to good people, and it's all just satisfying. Which is TRUE, but then at the end I saw where Stevenson was going and just straight up burst into tears of happiness and RIGHTNESS. SO charming. I just loved this. A.

2016 book 101

Simone Zelitch's Judenstaat
The premise of this book is: what if, after the Holocaust, instead of founding a Jewish state in Palestine, they founded a Jewish state in part of Germany (and it turned into a weird mish-mash of Israel and divided Berlin)? And now the fortieth anniversary of said state is approaching, and a film editor/archivist is working on a documentary to celebrate the occasion--at least until she is derailed by news that her husband's political murder three years earlier may have been something else entirely. So it's sort of a mystery, sort of an alternate history, sort of a political thriller, and certainly a political statement. It kind of left me with a lot of questions. It's an interesting book, and certainly the subject matter interested me, but I'm still not sure what sort of story it was trying to tell. B/B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on June 21st.

2016 book 100

Claire Legrand's Some Kind of Happiness
So this is a pretty good MG book dealing with depression/anxiety, centering on a young girl whose parents' marriage is hitting a rough spot, so she's being shipped off to spend the summer with the grandparents--and aunts and cousins--she's never met. And there are forbidden neighbor boys, and Family Secrets, and her own made up fantasy Everwood all colliding. And parts of this made me cry, and I liked the fantasy/storytelling elements, but a lot of this felt like a lesson book. Like, let me explain how depression feels and how you can deal with it. And, actually, maybe I needed a book like this when I was a kid! But I'm a grownup now. B+.

2016 book 99

Rainbow Rowell's Carry On
I wanted to reread this for book club so it would be fresh in my mind--and I think I liked it even /better/ this time! I didn't think about Harry Potter while reading it at all--and it was so interesting to see how the pieces came together, knowing where the story was leading. I still ended it kind of saying, "oh, poor Lucy," though. That plotline is honestly tragic. Ranbow Rowell knows how to get you right in the guts, man. So good.

2016 book 98

Daniel O'Malley's Stiletto
I am hesitant to say /anything/ about this book, because I don't want to spoil the first one for friends who haven't read it yet, so I will just say that there are two new POV characters--interesting and likable and badass, just like in the first book! And things are action-packed and exciting and occasionally slightly gory. I liked this so much, though the very end is mildly silly. I have no idea if there will be more books in this series, but if there are, I will be eagerly awaiting them. A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on June 14th.

2016 book 97

Daniel O'Malley's The Rook
It has been several years since I first read this, but the long-awaited sequel is coming out in just a couple of weeks, so it was time to revisit (since pretty much all I remembered was the protagonist's first name). Said protagonist works for a secret organization in England that deals with paranormal stuff--she's one of the weirdly powered higher ups there. Or at least she was, until a traitor in their midst caused her to lose her memories. Now she has to impersonate her former self, figure out who the traitor is, deal with paranormal emergencies, and help run this entire operation. It's a ton of fun. I was worried it wouldn't hold up, but it really does. I cannot wait to see where the story goes next. A/A-.

2016 book 96

Dorothy Sayer's Busman's Honeymoon
So Peter and Harriet are finally married, and go right away to the new house they've purchased in Harriet's hometown--only nothing is ready, and the previous owner is missing, and obviously foul play is afoot. I loved the descriptions of the wedding and the way their marriage was depicted, and also appreciated the looks at the psychological toll being a detective might actually take, but once again found the casual anti-Semitism off-putting (I know it was written in the 1930s, but STILL).  I like the Peter Wimsey mysteries a lot, but find that they sometimes drag a little, and this one was no exception. Still an entertaining enough read though. A-/B+.

2016 book 95

Claudia Gray's Bloodline
I really enjoyed Gray's first novel set in the Star Wars universe, so was eager to see her take on Leia--and see her take on those crucial events between The Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. But this kind of mires down in politics--which is, I mean, the point! It's showing how the First Order and the Resistance formed from the New Republic! But I felt like the pacing was a little bit off. I really liked (some of) the new characters, but I doubt they'll show up in the movies, so then I'm sort of wondering . . . what is the point? Obviously I loved seeing Leia doing her Leia thing (with Han featured), and it's nice to have some of those questions answered, but but but. It just didn't really hit home for me. Not bad at all, just not the dazzler I hoped for. B/B+.

2016 book 94

Alethea Kontis' Trix and the Faerie Queen
The second book in Kontis' Trixter series finds Trix and his friends on another magical quest, but at least this time they run into a few of his sisters to liven things up. Like its predecessor, this one felt a little bit underbaked--I just wanted things to be a little deeper. I mean, it's all fun and exciting, but there's not a lot beyond that.  I'm not emotionally invested in these characters, at all. But it /is/ pretty fun and exciting, so there's that. B/B+.

2016 book 93

Alethea Kontis' Trixter
This is the first book in a sort of companion series to Kontis' Woodcutter Sisters series (which seems not to have been picked up for any more books, which is a major shame), focusing on their adopted brother, who can talk to animals. He's run away from home after receiving a vision from his birth mother, sending him straight into a bunch of fairy-tale adventures. I liked this a lot, but it didn't feel like a /whole/ story to me--more the first half of one. Luckily the second book is out already! B+.

2016 book 92

Elly Griffiths' The Woman in Blue
In the latest Ruth Galloway mystery, Ruth's friend Cathbad (I love that guy) is housesitting when he thinks he has a vision of the Virgin Mary--only it turns out he actually saw a young model, about to be murdered. Ruth gets pulled into the case when an old friend of hers, a woman priest, begins to receive threatening letters that may be related to the crime. I'm honestly more interested in the ever-growing cast of characters here than in the mystery in a lot of these books, but this one balances both nicely and is a quick and entertaining read. I also like that so much of the story here involves people talking about religion, always a topic of interest to me. Definitely one of the stronger outings in the series. A-.


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

2016 book 91

Jeffrey Toobin's American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, and Trial of Patty Hearst
Look, if Jeffrey Toobin--who mainly writes books about legal stuff, including the one The People vs OJ Simpson was based on--is gonna write a book on Patty Hearst, I am THERE, ok? And this was freaking RIVETING. Hearst apparently did not cooperate with the book, but it is still fairly sympathetic toward her--I mean, I have no idea how accurate this portrayal is--it seems well-researched but who knows how it's spun--but it /feels/ accurate. And like I said, totally riveting presentation. I thought the depiction of how COMPLETELY INSANE the 1970s were, especially in California, was very well-done (this was a great followup to the Charles Manson's Hollywood eps of You Must Remember This, not to mention Emma Cline's excellent The Girls). And Toobin really TRIES not to let being a white man interfere with his story--my main quibble here is that he offhandedly mentions Nancy Ling's boyfriend forcing her to turn tricks, and several times thereafter Toobin calls her "the sex worker"--which maybe she was? But he never really says so otherwise? And it's not really a flattering characterization the way he presents it? That lack of information on a lot of the players was where this struck me as weak--I could have used a lot more backstory on Hearst and her sisters, for instance--though I guess that is not really the story Toobin is trying to tell. Still, I sometimes struggle with nonfiction and had no problem sitting down and plowing right through this, so it's definitely entertaining. And insane. I love it. A-.


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

2016 book 90

Mary Balogh's Only Beloved
The final book in the Survivor's Club series focuses on father figure George, and it's kind of boring--basically on page one he's like, "hmm, all my friends are married, I want to get married too" and goes and proposes to the sister of the love interest from book 4, and they get married, and then vaguely resolve their past issues while smiling at each other a whole bunch. OK, great. I did appreciate that this romance features older-than-usual characters--she's 39, and he's 48 (his age was never mentioned before, but I really felt that he had been aged down here with a ridiculously early marriage and fatherhood to make the timeline work and have him still be relatively sprightly). I mean, you never see middle-aged people in a romance novel like this, so that was kind of cool, but aside from like one very silly and melodramatic scene, the story was pretty dull. Pleasant, but dull. Also, for some reason the total heteronormativity/presentation of gender roles kind of rubbed me the wrong way in this one--I'm really not sure why. Maybe because the heroine was perfectly happy with her life, maybe because the survivors ending up with SEVENTEEN children between them is the happy ending. I mean, they also have better mental health, which is why I found this series interesting in the first place (the main characters all have PTSD), but this was a little bit of a bland way to wrap up the series. B.

2016 book 89

Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn
So basically this is one of my all time top five favorite books, though I was spurred to reread it this time after using it this weekend in a game of Bring Your Own Book. I'm super psyched that it's on Kindle now, and the Deluxe Edition comes with the sequel novella, Two Hearts (which makes me straight up weep), so I definitely recommend that version! It's funny to read this now, at the age Molly Grue is in the novel--is that why I now think she is by far the best character? Especially considering this was written in the 1960s! It's totally timeless.

2016 book 88

Elizabeth Hand's Generation Loss
I loved Hand's Wylding Hall, and have been eager to read more books by her, so I decided to start with the first in her Cass Neary mystery series--which, no surprise, is not really a conventional mystery. Cass is a washed up, messed up photographer, who is sent by a friend to interview a less washed-up reclusive photographer on an Island in Maine, where everyone is a little bit weird, there are all sorts of missing teenagers, and things are growing increasingly creepy. Cass is a great character, even if you sometimes want to give her a shake--or a kick in the shins. There isn't much to the mystery, per se, but the story itself is satisfying and I'm looking forward to seeing where Cass heads next--though maybe I'll read something else as a palate cleanser first. TW for Cass being a rape survivor, though this is not discussed in great detail. B+.

2016 book 87

Meg Rosoff's Jonathan Unleashed
Rosoff's books are often a little bit off-kilter, and her first novel for adults is no exception. It centers on Jonathan, a young man in New York City working at a dumb job and in a mildly unfulfilling relationship. He also is the recent caretaker of his brother's two dogs, and kind of jokingly thinks they're running his life? This book was compulsively readable, but Jonathan is a certain kind of Nice Guy--he one hundred percent feels entitled to attention and affection from random women--and so I was never sure if I wanted to be rooting for him or not. I did like that there was a genderqueer character, though am not one hundred percent sure how I feel about the presentation of said character (magical genderqueer friend?). I guess I liked how it ended? GREAT dogs though, I was into these fictional dogs. B.

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

2016 book 86

Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night
I think this may be Sayers' most famous work, and for good reason. It's also an interesting one to read as a modern feminist. It may have been written 80 years ago--but the more things change, the more they stay the same, and whatnot. Anyway, this one is primarily from Harriet's perspective (yay!) and finds her back at her old Oxford women's college trying to track down a poison pen/vandal plaguing the campus--and it might just be one of the professors. The mystery here is interesting, and I was proud of myself for figuring it out (though it does raise some interesting issues), but let's be real: the romantic in me was busy cheering for Harriet and Peter and the rest was kind of secondary. :) A/A-.

2016 book 85

Jennifer Haigh's Heat and Light
Haigh's latest--after News From Heaven--is also set her in fictional Western Pennsylvania coal mining town, Bakerton--but now the town is overrun by fracking. This one didn't work as well as its predecessor, for me--it's a novel, but parts read like short stories, and there is just a little too much going on. I felt like the characters were all given short shrift--there just wasn't enough to them, even with the occasional random flashback chapter. I mean, I would have read a whole book JUST about possible-trans farmer Mack and their partner. And one late reveal is pretty obvious to anyone who's ever seen The Sixth Sense (or read the internet). It's a really great and interesting look at the fracking industry, though (environmentalists don't come off too well, either), not to mention small towns, families, etc. And Haigh's descriptions, particularly of the Pennsylvania landscape and general atmosphere, really struck home for me. She's a very evocative writer. This one just didn't quite land for me. B/B+.

2016 book 84

Sarah Maas's Throne of Glass
I really feel like quitting the FYA book club is gonna be great for me--or at least will mean I'll be reading fewer crappy books. This is the usual cliched model of YA fantasy: a teenage girl, the BEST and MOST FAMOUS and also of course BEAUTIFUL assassin (she has "a brilliant ring of gold around her pupils" which is somewhat better than violet-eyed, I suppose), with a mysterious past, brought out of prison to work for the king and earn her freedom--IF she can defeat a bunch of warriors and win a competition to get the job. Very Hunger Games. Plus, there is a hot crown prince, not to mention a hot captain of the guard, leading to an overwrought love triangle. It's all very predictable. Even characters bonding over books and a sassy foreign princess friend couldn't make me like this. As for the writing--I will describe it as "workmanlike." So many adverbs, so much clumsy exposition!  It does get a little better as it goes on--but it's not particularly GOOD. Meh. At least no one gets raped? B-/C+.

2016 book 83

Dorothy Sayers' The Nine Tailors
This Peter Wimsey spins a tale of a death that relates to a long-ago jewel theft, with all sorts of twists and tangles along the way. Not to mention a lot of discussion of bell-ringing (surprisingly interesting!). Not too much else to say, except that it was definitely satisfying, and I hope we'll see Hilary Thorpe again. A-.

2016 book 82

Claire North's The Sudden Appearance of Hope
North's latest novel (after The Fifteen Lives of Harry August, among others) is another book with an interesting concept and a somewhat muddled execution. It centers on a woman--the titular Hope--who, for some reason, no one remembers. Like as soon as they turn away, they completely forget she exists. Even her parents have forgotten her. So of course she has to become a talented thief to survive--and when she's planning a major jewel theft, an acquaintance commits suicide, leading Hope to investigate a mysterious new app called Perfection. For a while, things take on a sci-fi mystery/thriller tone that I was pretty into, but by the end I felt like the whole book was more of a thought experiment than a story.  It just kind of fizzled out. But like I said, really an intriguing concept. B/B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on May 17th.

2016 book 81

Gwenda Bond's Double Down
The second book in Bond's Lois Lane series is more of the same--teenage Lois and her compatriots solving crimes, getting stories, having crushes, dealing with parents and sisters, etc--and it's all super fun. This one involves more weird super science, a mob boss, and a disgraced former mayor. I really hope more books in this series--and along these lines in general--are forthcoming, because they're pretty much the only superhero-related thing I care about these days! A-.

2016 book 80

Gwenda Bond's Lois Lane: Fallout
The first book in Bond's YA series on Lois Lane (the sequel is out today) finds teenage Lois settling with her family in Metropolis after a lifetime of changing schools because of her father's Army job--and she's determined to make friends and not get into trouble. At least until she gets sees a girl being bullied by a bunch of creepy gamers--and gets recruited to write for the Daily Planet's new teen-oriented website. I mean, there are no real surprises to the story here, but I found the narrative voice really engaging, liked that they threw Superman in as a character in a viable way (he's her internet friend), liked the general world-building, etc. I was mildly confused that the villainous stuff was called Project Hydra--SURELY you could have picked a name that isn't crucial to the Marvel universe?--but otherwise had no major complaints. Super fun. A-.

2016 book 79

Roshani Chokshi's The Star-Touched Queen
This was a really interesting mixture of Indian folklore and Western fairy tales, centering on a young woman, daughter of the Raja, who's fated to marry death and destruction, and so is kind of an outcast. She's hoping to be a scholarly spinster, but her plans are upended when her father announces a plan to marry her off, and then things go a little haywire. I really liked how magical elements functioned in the story, and I mostly liked the depiction of marriage, and if the protagonist is occasionally really stupid--well, she's stupid in the way that girls in fairy tales are often stupid, and I can't fault her for that. I found the wrap-up satisfying and found myself wishing there was more to the story. B+.


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

2016 book 78

Dorothy Sayers' Murder Must Advertise
In this outing in the Peter Wimsey series, Peter is undercover as a copywriter at an advertising agency--apparently Sayers once worked at a similar agency, so there are tons of details (I liked the details of the ads--it was all very Mad Men--but could have done with less detail on a crucial cricket match). Sayers actually starts the book in media res and it's not officially revealed that the copywriter is Wimsey until like chapter four, which entertained me. (I would complain about the lack of Harriet, but she is mentioned briefly, and I know she'll be back in the series soon--this one worked just fine without her.) The usual caveats for casual use of racist slurs applies--even Peter uses them in this book, to my chagrin. And if I ever forget to explicitly mention the racist slurs in one of my reviews, rest assured--they are still there. Only downside to reading this great series from the 1920s. B+.

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For some reason, this one is $1.99 for the Kindle right now, click the link above to check it out!

2016 book 77

Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven King
It's hard to know what to say about this without being spoiler-y. And it's hard to know how to feel about this book after so much build-up. I meant to reread all the others beforehand but never got around to it--I guess my enthusiasm for this series waned a little. It was mostly pretty good but parts felt like a cop-out and there were like twelve dei ex machina and not enough psychics and one fun new addition and I feel like I still have a lot of questions, particularly about the adult characters? But it was easy enough to devour it. I liked it. It just didn't hit the heights I expected. B+.

2016 book 76

Laura Lippman's Wilde Lake
Lippman's latest is a standalone centering on a recently elected state's attorney in Columbia, Maryland--a position her father famously held years earlier. Now she's working on a kind of weird murder case, and the story is also flashing back to a crucial summer in the 1970s and a couple cases of her father's (shades of To Kill a Mockingbird are intentional). Eventually, of course, these two stories start to converge, but not before Lippman touches on family, motherhood, romance, loss, race and class tensions, and more. I did have some minor problems with half the book being in first person and half in third, and wished this was a little more substantial, but it moves quickly and is pretty entertaining. B+.


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

2016 book 75

David Levithan and Nina LaCour's You Know Me Well
I wasn't sure how this book was going to go for me--I LOVE Nina LaCour, but am not really into David Levithan. But maybe he's better when he's working with someone else, a la Will Grayson, Will Grayson? This actually has a Will Grayson-esque vibe: it centers on two queer teens--a sixteen year old boy, in love with his best friend/sort of boyfriend, and the girl from his calc class he encounters at a Pride event in San Francisco, who's afraid to meet the girl she's in love with, and also consumed with a lot of anxiety, and they become really nice, supportive friends during Pride Week. I liked/related to her sections more--his veer into the cheesy/dramatic and have some unrealistic dialogue--but both are pretty compelling, and I pretty much downed this in one sitting. I also just like that books like this exist. More cute little books for queer teens! B+/A-.


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

2016 book 74

Karen Cushman's Grayling's Song
Newbery medalist Cushman's latest focuses on a young girl who has to go on a journey to save her mother, a local hedgewitch under an evil spell that's turning her into a tree. I think this is one of those books that a kid in the intended audience/age range would love, but that doesn't have enough depth to really enchant an adult reader. There is an EXTREMELY awesome mouse though. I love charming animal friends. B.

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

2016 book 73

Lydia Millet's Sweet Lamb of Heaven
Millet's latest (after the stellar Mermaids in Paradise) is another slightly off-kilter but enjoyable story. This one feels much more like a thriller--it centers on a woman and her daughter who are on the run from her sociopathic husband, who has no interest in them--but now that he's launching a political career, needs them back in his life.  There is also a sort of mystical overlay, which I found really interesting. The tension ramps up nicely, but I found the end kind of anti-climactic after all the build-up. I did like the sense of paranoia that imbues everything, I think I just wanted the end to feel a little bit bigger. Still a great book and obviously great writing. B+.

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

2016 book 72

Dorothy Sayers' Have His Carcase
The eighth Peter Wimsey mystery brings Harriet Vane back into the mix, as she encounters a recently dead body and the two get themselves involved in trying to solve the convoluted crime. This definitely would have benefited from some editing--it drags quite a bit, and there's an overly lengthy description of solving a cipher (and I say that as someone who likes that sort of thing!). It also just sort of ends as soon as they figure it out. I was losing steam by that point anyway, so was kind of relieved. I realize all of this sounds negative when, for the most part, this was entertaining. I really like Peter and Harriet. B.

2016 book 71

Maggie Nelson's The Red Parts: Autobiography of a Trial
I've never read any of Nelson's other books (though The Argonauts was a majorly critically acclaimed work last year), but Graywolf recently reissued this 2005 memoir and it sounded so compelling that I went for it! It centers on what happens when Nelson is about to publish a work of poetry about the long-ago murder of her aunt, presumably by a serial killer--and then finds out that the cold case has been reactivated, and a new suspect is about to be arrested. It's not a true crime book, but instead centers on Nelson and her family, their inter-relationships, and their grief, loss, and confusion as they face the murder trial. Nelson imbues her story with some really resonant themes, making this a quick, but moving, read. Very well-done. A.

2016 book 70

Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's The Nest
The Nest of the title refers to a trust fund four siblings are going to inherit when the youngest turns forty, and a couple of them have been counting on it to get them out of some financial jams--too bad troubled oldest brother Leo has caused it to almost disappear. I found the siblings (and their relationships) to be realistic and sympathetic to varying degrees, but there are a lot of other characters being juggled here, too, and I wished we could have had more attention paid across the board. I did like how some pieces of the end came together, but the epilogue felt a little bit pat. Still, the story here is compelling and the writing has some really striking moments. Normally I think novels about rich New Yorkers are annoying, but this was pretty well-done. B+.

2016 book 69

Lois Duncan's Down a Dark Hall
This month, our branch of the FYA book club decided to go rogue, and instead of reading the most recent Sarah Dessen book (too rapey), we went for a slightly trashy classic YA book. Lois Duncan is one of those authors who was ubiquitous during my formative years--though I only owned one book by her (Stranger With My Face!!! Long-lost twin sister astral projection dramarama!!!), I read it many, many times. This one was pretty amazing: a girl is forced to go to a mysteeeeerious boarding school so her mom and new stepdad can go on a four month long honeymoon (????), and the school is even more weird and creepy than she initially thought! The version I read had been updated from its original 1970s version (ie, cell phones exist), but I'm pretty sure the bones of the story remain the same. I also appreciated that almost every character was a woman. Anyway, I mean, this was a Lois Duncan book, so it was super entertaining but not like a literary masterpiece. What's that merit, a B+?

2016 book 68

Dorothy Sayers' The Five Red Herrings
So this entry in the Peter Wimsey series is, frankly, kind of dull. A guy is murdered at some combo artist/fishing resort in Scotland, and there are six suspects, and everyone runs around talking about train timetables and bicycles and it just DRAGS. None of these characters are fleshed out and even Peter doesn't have much to do, so I wasn't really invested in whodunnit. I also found the end mildly disappointing. I'm glad that Harriet Vane comes back into the picture in the next one--that should liven things up. B-.

2016 book 67

Lyndsay Faye's Jane Steele
Despite enjoying Faye's previous books, I wasn't sure how to feel about this one--a retelling of Jane Eyre, only this Jane is a serial killer. Like, what. But I should not have doubted Ms Faye, who has a way with a turn of phrase and with a plot, and who is all to eager to make her Jane Eyre fandom--and her titular character's--clear. This book is definitely compelling and entertaining, and makes me wish actual Jane Eyre had occasionally taken a shiv to someone. OK, things bog down a little in the middle and the end is mildly goofy, but this was surprisingly fun, and I appreciated the looks at Sikhism and the Sikh Wars. B/B+.

2016 book 66

Anne Tyler's Vinegar Girl
This is the latest in the Hogarth Shakespeare series--where modern writers rework classic Shakespeare plays. I was pretty excited to see Tyler's take on Taming of the Shrew, since it's a play I'm more familiar with. Of course, can any modern adaptation be better than 10 Things I Hate About You? And the answer is no, but this was pretty good anyway. Tyler cleverly modernizes things by making heroine Kate's father try to pressure her into a green card marriage so he can keep his research assistant, though Kate comes off less as prickly and more as maybe on the spectrum. I also wish Tyler hadn't chosen to kind of drop the younger sister's story entirely--I wanted a lot more from the sister relationship here, and disliked everyone constantly talking about how dumb and pretty the younger girl was (she's only fifteen!). But if you take it as it is, it's kind of a sweet book a la the movie Green Card (which is fine, but not nearly as good as 10 Things I Hate About You). I definitely liked this more than the Winter's Tale one. B+.

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

2016 book 65

Rufi Thorpe's Dear Fang, With Love
Thorpe's second novel, after The Girls of Corona Del Mar, felt like a bit step up to me--and I liked her first one! This one centers on a semi-estranged father and daughter--he was a teen when she was born and not really part of her life until she was twelve, and she's recently been diagnosed as bipolar, so of course taking her on a tour of Vilnius (to visit his grandmother's roots) is a GREAT idea. I found both characters really compelling and believable, and Thorpe has a deft touch with foreshadowing that had me going "oh s--t" a couple of times. I also appreciated the look at family stories and the things we tell ourselves, and particularly enjoyed all the Jewish characters and the way they were exploring their own stories. But of course, it's primarily a story and family and love. Great stuff. A/A-.

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

2016 book 64

Rick Riordan's Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer
Hooray: the library was finally able to get this as an e-book! Boo: I think I am definitely over Rick Riordan. I mean, look, this book is FINE. It's cute that the main character is the cousin of Annabeth from the Percy books. But the whole thing feels like a MAJOR Percy Jackson retread. Great, there's a Muslim girl in it, and she has some good action scenes. A dwarf who's into fashion and an elf who wants to learn magic, fun! But no one has any real character development. I was never invested in any of them.  I also for once wish things would hinge on the child of a goddess, not a god, but I guess beggars can't be choosers after a couple thousand years of patriarchal societies. Anyway, I'm not going to be reading any more of this series--I am beyond uninterested in the same story beats or in Loki's shenanigans. B.

2016 book 63

Dorothy Sayers' Strong Poison
In the 6th Peter Wimsey book--the one which was most strongly recommended to me--Peter is determined to prove a young woman--a mystery writer!!--innocent of killing her ex. And then he's determined to marry her. I will say this mystery was way easier to solve for the reader than the previous ones, but it was still super satisfying, and I am very excited to see how things progress from here. A/A-.

2016 book 62

Dorothy Sayers' The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
I skipped the fourth Peter Wimsey book because it was a bunch of short stories (though I plan to go back to it later), so on to the fifth! This one finds Peter dealing with an elderly man who died at the club--but did he die before his sister, or after? It matters quite a bit, will-wise, and so his lawyer friend has asked Peter to investigate the matter--and of course quite a few odd things and red herrings emerge and it is super entertaining as always. I love this series so much. I really especially love watching Peter interact with women. A/A-.

2016 book 61

Mariko Tamaki's Saving Montgomery Sole
Tamaki is the co-author of two graphic novels I really like, Skim and This One Summer, so I was excited to read a YA novel from her. And for sure, while it deals with some of the usual themes of YA lit--outcast/non-conformist teens dealing with high school jerks--it never felt formulaic. Protagonist Montgomery, daughter of a lesbian couple, runs the school Mystery Club--which investigates ESP and the like--but things get complicated when an ultra-conservative preacher comes to town, and his son enrolls at their school. And then, of course, there is a maybe-magical amulet obtained from the internet. I will say that this book suffers from one of my pet peeves--if the main character had an honest conversation, there would be no plot, but of course it is realistic for teens to be secretive and dumb. I really liked all the characters here, I just wished there was more to the story--it was entertaining and funny, but somewhat insubstantial. B/B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on April 19th.

2016 book 60

Emma Cline's The Girls
I'll start by saying: this book is way better than it needs to be. I mean, people are gonna read a fictionalized version of the Manson Murders no matter what--so that this book is a literary stunner is a major bonus. It's from the point of view of fourteen year old Evie--granddaughter of a major Hollywood celebrity*--who starts hanging out at the infamous ranch because she's intrigued by one of the older girls there. But it is kind of really about girlhood, about coming of age, about rape culture, about GIRLS, in a way that really resonated with me. Just a beautiful book. I'm not sure how I feel about the framing device--a much older Evie, at loose ends, encountering some beautiful young people at a friend's house--but it definitely works thematically. I think I just wished we'd seen more of adult Evie. Those are minor complaints, really--I think I'll still give this one an A.


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

*I recently listened to the Manson episodes of the You Must Remember This podcast and I SWEAR I remember one of the people who hung out with them briefly was the grandchild of someone famous--does anyone know who I'm talking about? Am I making this up?

2016 book 59

Dorothy Sayers' Unnatural Death
The third Peter Wimsey mystery is more of the charming same, as we find Peter investigating a cold case--an elderly woman who apparently died of cancer a few years earlier, but her doctor thinks she should have lived several more months. And of course things quickly get kind of crazy, with all sorts of entertaining twists and turns. This was written in the 1920s, so some characters are pretty racist--the n-word is used several times--but none of our heroes seem to be. And Peter has taken on an associate to do some investigating--an aging spinster, who is absolutely hilarious. I love this series so much. A-.

2016 book 58

Dorothy Sayers' Clouds of Witness
The second Lord Peter Wimsey finds his older brother, the Duke, arrested for murder! And the dead man is their younger sister's fiance! And she's definitely keeping some secrets too. Sayers definitely kept me guessing with this one--there are soooo many clues and red herrings--but it totally all makes sense in the end and is abundantly satisfying. I did wish the lawyer's speech at the end was slightly less lengthy, but that's a minor complaint. I really find these books so calming, though maybe that is weird to say about a murder mystery. A-.

2016 book 57

Mo Daviau's Every Anxious Wave
Daviau's debut novel may have been written JUST FOR ME--it centers on TIME TRAVEL and INDIE ROCK! Cat's Cradle even gets a shoutout! Anyway, it's the story of a guy, an aging indie rocker, who owns a bar and discovers a time travel portal thing in his closet (don't question it) and he and his buddy set up a business sending people back in time to awesome rock shows. I mean, that is genius. But then things go awry, and his friend ends up trapped in Manhattan in the year 980. And the bartender has to call in a cool young astrophysicist (a lady!) to save the day. I didn't find their inevitable romance entirely compelling--I wished she had been slightly better developed, or at least not seen only through his eyes, and I could have done w/o mentions of rape--but really enjoyed all the time travel shenanigans. This book was super fun. B+.

2016 book 56

Dorothy Sayers' Whose Body
Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries have been recommended to me a few times, and I honestly wanted to read something on the lighter side after my past few books (isn't it sad that murder mysteries are considered light reading?). And this was definitely light, and pretty funny, and a little bit clever. It involves Peter (the usual upper class goofball who's secretly sharp as a knife) getting called in when an acquaintance finds a dead body in his bathtub. There is also the case of the missing rich Jewish man (many of the characters here are casually anti-Semitic, which is certainly appropriate for upper-class British people in the 1920s, but I didn't feel like /Sayers/ was being anti-Semitic). Are these cases connected, and can Peter fit all the pieces together? I mean, it's pretty obvious who the murderer is, but I liked seeing the process of figuring it out, and really enjoyed the characters here. Very entertaining and just what my brain needed. A-. (BTW, the first three books in this series are available in a Kindle bundle for just $7.99, click the link above to check it out!)

2016 book 55

Louise Erdrich's LaRose
Louise Erdrich is one of my all time favorite authors, so I've been savoring this one the past few days--though I think I could easily have read it in one sitting. It centers on two families, neighbors and friends; one day, while out hunting, the father of one family shoots the little boy of the other family--and decides he should give them his own little boy to make amends, impacting both families in expected and unexpected ways. It's also a portrait of the community--lots of characters drifting in and out of the narrative, which makes it feel a little busy at times, but also makes it feel more alive. And there are some teenage girls in this book who are just amazing. I would give this book an A based on their scenes alone (the titular LaRose is pretty great too). Erdrich tackles so many things--grief, loss, love, coming of age, sexual assault, bitterness, revenge, storytelling, family, war, etc--and then just sticks the landing in a way that made me want to high five someone. I read the last page like three times. It just really resonated with me. A for sure.


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

2016 book 54

Elizabeth Poliner's As Close to Us as Breathing
Well, this book was the perfect palate cleanser to the last book I read--maybe the beach setting helped wash all those horrible images away? The funny thing is, this book also deals with a tragedy--from the very first page, we know the narrator's little brother is going to die, hit by a car--but it's handled so much BETTER here. Part of that is the narrative voice--the protagonist, now an older woman, is looking back on the summer she was 12, in 1948, when her large and complicated family visits their beach house in the Jewish section of Connecticut--but partially it's just the way the story is crafted. (It's very well-crafted.) I really felt like I KNEW all of these people--and not just because they reminded me of my family, because only a few of them did--Poliner just breathes life into all of them, and all of their experiences, big tragedies and small ones, and little moments of grace. Just lovely. A.

2016 book 53

Ashley Hope Perez's Out of the Darkness
So this is being described as a novel about a major disaster--an explosion at a school in Texas in 1937--as a backdrop for a story about love, family, segregation, racism, etc. Which is accurate. But is also a novel about a young girl being molested by her stepfather. This is why trigger warnings are a thing! I don't want to read books about young girls being molested, I find it upsetting (I think understandably). I am especially tired of picking up YA books that I think are going to be literary and moving, and having them be super rapey. I mean, half the town thinks she should marry her stepfather, so gross! I cannot deal with this sort of thing anymore--and that's not even getting STARTED on the extremely crazy and bummerific ending--which I live-chatted in a Slack channel b/c I was so horrified (and bemused). One friend said it sounded like misery porn and I honestly have to agree. Ugh. Publishers, can't you use words like "harrowing" for stories like these, so we know?  B-.

2016 book 52

Corinne Duyvis' On the Edge of Gone
I keep accidentally reading sci-fi books this week, but it's ok, because they've all been pretty good ones. I had high expectations for this one, because I really enjoyed the author's last book, and this mostly met them! It's set in near-future Amsterdam, where the planet is dealing with a variety of natural disasters, and things are looking pretty bleak--when teenage Denise (biracial and autistic) discovers a generation ship about to take off, and is determined to win places for her family on board. The autism is handled really well and I think realistically, and I really enjoyed reading about Denise's experiences on the ship. I also appreciated that any and all romance was totally on the backburner, b/c it's a freaking apocalypse, after all! However, this book stressed me the eff out! It turns out I have a really hard time with characters breaking rules during an apocalypse. I think this really says a lot about me as a person, and not necessarily good things, heh. But it was weirdly upsetting to me. The end is also a little bit all over the place. But, all in all, pretty good. B/B+.

2016 book 51

Jenny T. Colgan's Resistance is Futile
This book was VERY silly, but also VERY fun. It's about a young woman, a mathematician,  who finds herself part of a group of elite colleagues working on a mysterious government project. At first I was like, is this gonna be like The Rosie Project meets Popco? But it goes somewhere entirely different (and slightly goofier). Parts of this are predictable, but I was super into the romance and liked the sense of humor a lot. And I really didn't see the end coming. I'll definitely be looking for more from Colgan. A-/B+.

2016 book 50

Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee's Maybe a Fox
OK, there is officially a trend of emotionally compromising middle grade books featuring foxes this year (cf: Pax). This one features two sisters who lost their mother when they were five and six, and now the older one has disappeared, leaving the younger bereft. There is also a little fox that feels a connection to the girl (for reasons that are obvious to an adult reader, but maybe not to the intended audience? Either way, I had no issues with it). Great book on families and grief and rock collecting, and the end had me bawling my eyes out. I could have done without a throwaway reference to spirit animals, which isn't necessary to understand the story and might be offensive to Native American readers. Other than that, great stuff. A/A-.

2016 book 49

Becky Chambers' A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Several of my friends have raved about this recently and so I was curious about it, even though I don't read a lot of sci-fi--and it totally lives up to the hype! It's about the people--not all human!--on a spaceship that punches black holes into space to allow for faster travel--but really, it's about the people. Great characters here, ones I was rooting for the whole time. I was even into the various romances. There's lots of action and adventure too, and dare I say--it was all kind of adorable? Plus, the book itself has a great underdog sort of story--originally funded on Kickstarter, and now a nominee for the Orange Prize (oh, I guess it's called the Baileys Prize now). Anyway, really a fun read, the kind that makes me want to seek out more sci-fi. Luckily for me, Chambers is working on a companion novel! Yay. A/A-.

2016 book 48

Emma Straub's Modern Lovers
Just when I think I never ever want to read a book about well-off New Yorkers again, Emma Straub goes and writes one so good that I have no problem admitting how wrong I was. It's the story of two intertwined families in Brooklyn, and marriages working and not working, and teens falling in love and in friendship, and nostalgia, and real estate, and music, and everything awesome. It's gonna be perfect summer reading for those of us who want something a little substantial but completely enjoyable. I think it's the first book all year that I really LOVED and was eager to get back to whenever I put it down. A.


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

2016 book 47

Sabaa Tahir's An Ember in the Ashes
The major downside of running the local branch of the FYA book club is not being able to put down a book that isn't working for me. And boy, did this one not work for me. It's the same sort of dramatic, formulaic mishegas that seems to be driving a lot of YA these days-- a girl, a boy, opposite sides of an evil empire, dramatic backstories, monsters from Middle Eastern folklore, a love quandrangle, etc. You get the picture. It's also very rapey (the evil empire is all about rape, torture, and slavery) and there is an Excessive Use of Capitalization. So basically, a lot of things I am not into in a book I wish I didn't have to read. I mean, the pacing is good, and the characters are interesting enough in that generic way, but this was just too unpleasant for me. I mean, the CONSTANT rape threats and general violence. Just too much for me. B-.

2016 book 46

C.S. Harris' When Falcons Fall
The Sebastian St Cyr series is one that really works for me, because Harris allows the characters to grow and change--they aren't stuck in the same formulaic rut all the time. That, and St Cyr has a badass and intelligent wife whose input he values! Anyway, in this one, they're visiting a small village to try and find out more about his past--when a young widow is found dead, and St Cyr is asked to assist with the investigation. Things quickly get crazier from there, as multiple villains, red herrings, and Bonapartes come into play (also, trigger warning for mentions of rape). Another solid entry in the series. A/A-.

2016 book 45

Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway
When I started this, I was so excited--it's a GREAT concept, and McGuire's writing felt so much more PURPOSEFUL than a lot of her recent work. It's about a special school--a school for children who have returned from various fantasy lands, to help them come to terms with the end of their magical adventures, all through the eyes of new student Nancy, who's just been sent away from an Underworld. But then McGuire decides to cram a murder mystery into this moving story, and there's just not enough THERE to support a mystery! Like, it is IMMEDIATELY obvious who the killer is, because there are only so many characters, and this whole book is only 176 pages. So that takes things in a bit of a downward direction--like, there are so many interesting avenues to explore, and that's where the story goes? And then the end is fairly anti-climactic. Sigh. This needed to be like fifty pages longer. B.


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

2016 book 44

Jessica Day George's Friday with the Wizards
The fourth book in the Castle Glower series is pretty much as delightful as the first few, as the gang has to raise some griffins, battle an evil wizard, and grow closer as a family. Protagonist Celia is mildly bratty for part of the book, but works her crap out, and I really appreciated that we finally get to know more about her mother (who is very cool). Nice action, cute animals, and I'll be waiting for the next one. A-.

2016 book 43

Deanna Raybourn's A Curious Beginning
Raybourn's latest is the start of a new series, featuring a lady lepidopterist with very modern ideas, and a man who's a natural historian with a mysterious past and a fetching eyepatch. When the woman's aunt dies, she is suddenly whisked away to London by a Baron who claims her life is in danger--and it's apparent to the reader that he's right, though she's pretty much in denial about it. Soon murder is afoot and she has to figure out what the heck is going on (though it takes a little while to get there--a lengthy interlude at a traveling carnival is maybe not entirely necessary, but it does add some interesting color). Raybourn does a good job with the romantic tension--I was one hundred percent screaming "make out already!!!" in my head--but the big reveal is is preposterous that I could not EVEN with it. But I like lady adventurers getting things done, so I look forward to seeing what's next with this series. B+.

2016 book 42

Stephanie Burgis' Masks and Shadows
Don't let the general description of "historical fantasy" fool you--Burgis' latest is a major departure from her adorable Kat Incorrigible series--which is not at all a bad thing. In her first novel for adults, Burgis explores the political scene of the 18th century--the story is set at the palace of Prince Esterhazy in Hungary, where some nefarious elements are plotting against the Hapsburg dynasty. It's also a kind of sweet, occasionally overwrought love story between a young widowed Baroness who loves music and the castrato who's come to visit and entertain (I will say that some of the descriptions of the castrato felt a little bit weird/othering). There also some interesting debate about class, not to mention some creepy supernatural elements! And Haydn is there, composing an opera! Things move along quickly and in general this is an entertaining sort of story--and one that feels different than a lot of the other books I've read lately. I especially appreciated the historical details and atmosphere--that was definitely very well done. I maybe wanted a little bit more character development though? B+.

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

2016 book 41

Judith Flanders' A Bed of Scorpions
The second book in Flanders' mystery series (after A Murder of Magpies), about an editor at a publishing house, is more of the delightful same! The death here involves the owner of an art gallery, whose co-owner is an old friend (and long-ago ex) of the heroine. And of course the cop she's dating is the one in charge of the investigation! Things quickly go haywire, there are a ton of plausible red herrings, plus more inside scoop on the publishing world--it's all super fun and a great read, just the kind of mystery I like. Flanders is building up a cool little world here, and I definitely hope to see more of it. A/A-.


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

2016 book 40

Mona Awad's 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl
TOO REAL. This book was excellent, but it was too real. A/A-.

2016 book 39

Brittany Cavallaro's A Study in Charlotte
This book was SO FUN!!! It's all about what happens when the great-great-great grandson of Dr Watson is shipped off to boarding school (on a rugby scholarship!)--the very same boarding school attended by Sherlock Holmes' great-great-great granddaughter, who is just as talented and troubled as her famous progenitor. Obviously a murder ensues--and it's the murder of a complete jerk who they both hate! And they have to band together and solve it--only things quickly get more complicated. And not just because they're teenagers! I really found the writing here super compelling and fun--I can think of a couple of weak spots but nothing major really--I honestly hope this is the start of a series because I want to read more of these ridiculous and awesome kids. A-.

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TW for mentions of a past rape.

2016 book 38

Patricia McKillip's Kingfisher
This book starts out simply--and interestingly--enough, with a young man, the son of a sorceress (who now runs a restaurant), going off on a quest to find his heretofore unknown father and brother. He soon runs across a small town with TWO magical restaurants and a girl who is desperate to flee. And just when you're like, oh, /that's/ what sort of book this is, we suddenly head to the capitol, where lots of political (and religious!) things are brewing. So the world-building here is kind of complicated--it's a world of magic, shapeshifters, cell phones, and Geo Metros--and there is a LOT going on. Being me, I was very interested in the various gods/goddesses and their worshipers, the way McKillip plays with mythology, and the hint of a matriarchal society coming into play, but I definitely wished things had been a little more straightforward. She seems to really enjoy being convoluted! Anyway, eventually all these crazy plotlines come together for some magic and mayhem and a generally satisfying end.  B+.

2016 book 37

Joshilyn Jackson's The Opposite of Everyone
Sometimes Jackson's books are a little hit or miss for me--but this one was definitely a HIT. It centers on a woman, a high-powered attorney in Atlanta with a rough past, who has a lot to deal with when some family secrets start to emerge. I was one hundred percent rooting for her the whole time (and also one hundred percent rooting for her to get with her love interest). There's also a great, and wholly satisfying, ending. If you need a book about a badass lady getting stuff done, and also some emotional catharsis and crying, pick this one up ASAP. A/A-.


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

2016 book 36

Janet B. Taylor's Into the Dim
You guys know I LOVE time travel books, and I really WANTED to love this one. But I didn't. It centers on a teenage girl--kinda sickly and frail, but smart, with a photographic memory--whose mother died in an earthquake a year earlier--but she's convinced that her mother DIDN'T die, and in fact, she's right, because her mother is TRAPPED IN THE PAST and only she can save her!!!! Also there are EVIL time travelers, too! And all that actually makes sense, as far as these things go, and so she goes trekking off to the Middle Ages and chills with Eleanor of Aquitane, and meets a helpful Jewish girl (I appreciated the accurate historical look at anti-Jewish sentiment during this period) and all sorts of other things happen, it's all very exciting (it's also all VERY rapey, which is probably also historically accurate, but like, I could have done with less of it). Too bad things bog down with STUPID ROMANCE and the hints of A STUPID LOVE TRIANGLE. YA books, why you gotta do me like that. Who has time for romance when you're running for your lives in the freaking PAST? Plus it feels like every other YA romance/possible love triangle that's ever been written. I am way past over it. Anyway, this is the start of a series, and if you're into that sort of thing, it's pretty well-written. I am, clearly, not really into that sort of thing. B/B-.

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

2016 book 35

Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan's The Royal We
At first, I was worried about rereading this for FYA book club--would it be as good as I remembered? etc--but as soon as I started, I got completely sucked back in again and would have read the whole thing in one sitting if I hadn't had other plans! Anyway, the Fug Girls' take on Kate Middleton is super entertaining, only occasionally cheesy, and surprisingly action-packed! Good stuff!

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I see that there is an edition with "a new bonus chapter"--anyone have the details on that?

2016 book 34

Theresa Rebeck's I'm Glad About You
I was mainly interested in reading this because I loved Rebeck's previous novel, though I admit there was sort of a morbid interest in Rebeck's take on an actress, after all the drama she had working on Smash. And although there is plenty of Hollywood dirt stuff going on, primarily this is the story of a young actress in New York and the guy she left behind in Cincinnati--who's just gotten married (there is a third POV character, a somewhat douchey journalist, but he's pretty minor). Anyway, it's all very readable and entertaining and even a little bit more solid, writing-wise, than it has to be. I did wish there was no rapiness, but maybe that is too much to ask for sometimes. I did like it a lot! A-/B+.


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

2016 book 33

Tanita S. Davis' Peas and Carrots
The latest from Davis, a Coretta Scott King honor award winner, is a really sweet, simple, and realistic look at a complicated family, the foster care system, sibling and friend relationships, and more. I also really appreciated the depiction of minorities, particularly the middle-class family at the center of the story. I wished there had been a little more at the end, but it did leave me with a nice, hopeful feeling. Really good stuff. A/A-.

2016 book 32

Tamora Pierce's Lady Knight
The final book in Pierce's Protector of the Small series is a satisfying conclusion--though it is super grim at times. I really appreciate that Pierce keeps romance on the backburner for the series--it's all very realistic for what Keladry is going through, and I liked the way her feelings on the matter were depicted. It's just so rare in a series of this kind. High five, Tamora Pierce. A/A-.

2016 book 31

Tamora Pierce's Squire
The third book in Pierce's Protector of the Small series is great, just great! I was totally crying from sheer joy (and a little bit of sappiness) at the end. Pierce doesn't shy away from the horror and darkness of war, particularly now that protagonist Keladry is a young adult, but there is also still plenty of the girl-power awesomeness of the first two. I am so grateful that the library added this series, as I had no idea it existed and it's really fun and satisfying. A/A-.

2016 book 30

Tamora Pierce's Page
I am just rip roaring through this series! This second one centers on Kel as she works her way through the page system, still dealing with sexist morons, but with more friends--and more ANIMAL FRIENDS!!!! She learns and grows a lot, and I really appreciated the focus on her adolescence. Great, great. A/A-.