2020 book 9

Quan Barry's We Ride Upon Sticks
Y’all. This book. Is about. FIELD HOCKEY WITCHES.

FIELD HOCKEY WITCHES!!!!!

Has there ever been a book more geared toward ME? (See below pic for reference.)

Anyway, this story is set in 1989, where the much-losing varsity field hockey team at Danvers High takes a little inspiration from their town's history—Danvers, of course, being where most of the witch trials actually took place. I loved everything about this book—the first person plural narrative voice that nonetheless lets all the girls (and one boy) shine, their camaraderie and rivalries, how funny parts of this are and how satisfying all of it is, how it speaks to truth about the teen girl experience. Seriously, this book is GREAT and I recommend it highly, even if you didn’t play high school field hockey. A.

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

2020 book 8

Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle
My brain needed a palate cleanser after those last couple of books, and what better way to wash away dense and sordid philosophical novels than with a story of sisters, magic, romance, and mystery? This book is so funny and sweet and a little bit sly. Sophie, the eldest of three, knows how stories go, so she isn’t even surprised when a witch curses her and her misadventures begin, as she becomes housekeeper to the heartless wizard Howl. I love this book more every time I read it.

2020 book 7

Ada Palmer's Seven Surrenders
The second Terra Ignota book goes all in on philosophical/theological debates and (deliberately unpleasant) debauchery, but eventually plot does come into it and things pick up a bit. I think I like these books, but they also really bum me out. They do feel more like thought experiments than novels at times, which is not really my jam. I am /thinking/ about them a lot, so I guess they are effective in that way? I am curious enough to read the third, at least. B/B+.

2020 book 6

Ada Palmer's Too Like the Lightning
The first book in Palmer's Terra Ignota series is a doozy! It's a sci fi story set several hundred years in the future, and it also has a couple of different mysteries going on, and a LOT of political intrigue. The narrator is a man (though gender is hidden in this world and pronouns are used based more on societal role) who immediately confesses that he's a criminal, but his sentence was to be part of the servant class. He works for many of the world's leaders and so is witness to all sorts of politics. Also, there was a weird newspaper break-in, but who broke in, and why? And what did the narrator DO, exactly? Also, there's a mysterious little boy. ALSO, the narrator engages in a lot of conversations about 18th century Enlightenment thinkers (I personally could have done with less of this, as well as with less of the weird lewdness in the back half). OK, there is no good way for me to explain this book: it's very dense, and intense, and fascinating, and I can't wait to read the next one. A-.

2020 book 5

Gish Jen's The Resisters
All I knew going into this book was a) I like Gish Jen, and b) that is a badass cover and title. So I almost don’t want to say anything else about it so you too can be surprised about where it starts, and where it ends up. Here are some tidbits: a near-future dystopia, race and class struggles, a father watching his daughter grow up . . . and baseball. (I am not a person particularly interested in sports, but Jen makes the baseball pretty compelling.) It's great. A/A-.

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

2020 book 4

Kate Racculia's Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts
I loved this book so much when I read it that I made my book club read it so I would have more people to discuss it with, but for some reason I had a little bit of a hard time rereading it. I think I was sort of cringing in anticipation of a couple of things I knew were coming, even though I knew awesome things were ALSO coming! (And knowing one of the twists means Tuesday is bad at her job is cringeworthy for sure.) But soon enough I was caught up in the adventures; following a dead man's treasure hunt with a wild cast of characters is bound to do that. This is heartfelt and bittersweet and full of adventures and sadness and joy. Just great.

2020 book 3

Kate Milford's The Thief Knot
The latest book in Milford's Greenglass House universe features a great mix of old and new characters (but works fine as a standalone, since I don’t remember all of them very well). Two girls live in the MOST boring town—because it’s a sanctuary for retired ne'er-do-wells—so of course when they hear about a kidnapping, they decide to investigate, and put a crew together. This makes it sound like a silly romp but Milford and her characters take all this very seriously, and it’s a really satisfying adventure story/mystery. Great friendships, great kids, great depiction of dealing with social anxiety. A/A-.

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

2020 book 2

Margaret Dumas' Murder in the Balcony
The second Murder in the Palace mystery, about a woman who runs a classic movie theater (which has a helpful and friendly ghost!) and deals with theater stuff, her maybe ex husband the movie star, her employees and friends, and also a little bit of murder-solvin'. This time, the boyfriend of one of her employees is MURDERED! Also, a shady real estate tycoon is trying to buy all the buildings on the block! Can she figure things out and save the day? The mystery here is solid, but it’s definitely the characters I’m most into here. And all the cute fake blog entries about classic movies. There were some annoying typos but otherwise this was a lot of fun. B+.

2020 book 1

Lina Rather's Sisters of the Vast Black
Nuns! In! Space!!!!!!!!

I mean, do I really need to write more? You already know if you want to read a book about nuns in space, on a living ship, in the far corners of the galaxy. Nuns of a practical nature.

But if you're on the fence about it--I recommend it HIGHLY. Especially if you're into the Becky Chambers Wayfarers books. Definitely that sort of vibe. And I will be eagerly awaiting whatever Rather writes next. A.

2019 book 168

Sarah Pinsker's A Song for a New Day

This novel takes place in the near future, in a world where, due to bombings and pandemics, public congregations (including concerts!) are banned. Our protagonists are a (woman) musician, ex-Orthodox Jewish, who misses playing live shows, and another young woman, who works for a corporation that controls basically everything. The story bogs down a bit when the latter gets a new job and has to face the real world; she is amazingly naive and parts of the book feel like capitalism/consumerism 101 as new friends clue her in. I did like that basically everyone in this book was queer, and liked the way it depicted music scenes. I just wished it was a little more subtle. B+.

2019 book 167

Tiffany Tsao's The Majesties
This book is kind of like if Crazy Rich Asians, instead of being fun and soapy, was something of a thriller. It’s narrated by a woman in a coma, whose beloved sister has poisoned their entire family and all their friends in a murder-suicide, and the comatose woman is the only survivor. So, as any coma patient would do, she narrates the story of her sister and herself in a straightforward literary manner. (Clearly I had some issues with suspension of disbelief.) The conclusion is super obvious, though I also felt it needed more actual foreshadowing to work. Parts of this are really moving, but on the whole it didn’t work for me. B.

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

2019 book 166

Catherine Lloyd’s Death Comes to the Nursery
The seventh Kurland St Mary mystery has a murder closer to home, when the new nursery maid—a very pretty girl who all the local men are fighting over—is found dead. The mystery elements were good enough, though a bit all over the place, but Lloyd is hitting the same character beats as in the last couple so it’s not super interesting. I mean, it’s fine, but the characters need some new friends and neighbors or something. B.

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

2019 book 165

Catherine Lloyd's Death Comes to Bath
The sixth Kurland St Mary mystery finds Lucy and Robert off to Bath to take the waters, with various friends and relations in tow. Soon a new acquaintance is murdered and they’re determined to solve the case. The mystery here is fine, even if the solution isn’t too hard to suss out, but I was really frustrated with the writing. This needed better proof-reading—lots of little mistakes and missing commas. And the story wasn’t engrossing enough to ignore it. B/B-.

2019 book 164

Diana Wynne Jones' The Pinhoe Egg
And the cozy reads continue with the sixth Chrestomanci book! This one features lots of magical secrets, mysteries, animals, etc, as Cat (from the first book) and a local girl deal with magical issues in the village. Just another very satisfying story.

2019 book 163

Diana Wynne Jones' Conrad's Fate
These are the perfect books to read in chilly weather when you are sleepy and cozy! The fifth Chrestomanci book finds a boy named Conrad partnered with teen Christopher as trainee servants in a gran house—but both are secretly there for other reasons. Adventures, comedy, and magic ensue and of course Jones wraps it all up with a satisfying bow. A-.

2019 book 162

Diana Wynne Jones' The Magicians of Caprona
The fourth Chrestomanci book has everything: feuding magical families in a town in Italy (the homage to Romeo and Juliet is intentional), political intrigue, interesting children, and excellent cats. Can they all come together to save the day? And will things be hilarious along the way? This is Diana Wynne Jones, so yes.

2019 book 161

Diana Wynne Jones' Witch Week
This is a charming and mildly silly outing in the Chrestomanci universe, in a world where witchcraft is illegal, but SOMEONE in the sixth grade class is a witch. Lots of magic and mayhem ensue before a very satisfying ending.

2019 book 160

Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer's To Night Owl from Dogfish
I’ve had mixed feelings about previous works from both these authors, but this was a pretty cute middle grade book that has a reverse Parent Trap vibe. See, these tween girls' dads have become an item, and are sending the girls to camp to make friends. Which the girls resolutely REFUSE to do, nope, definitely not going to be friends, even though they are emailing back and forth like crazy. A lot of this was predictable but I liked the girls' relationship a lot. B+.

2019 book 159

Victoria Goddard's Blackcurrant Fool
The fourth Greenwing and Dart books finds our young men on a road trip to meet some heretofore unknown relations and also check out one of the local bastions of higher education. Things obviously don’t go quite as planned. I liked how Goddard brought in some of the world's trailing thread, plus I appreciated the emphasis on a good literary analysis! There are still some dangling bits of storyline so I have high hopes for more stories featuring these guys. A/A-.

2019 book 158

Victoria Goddard's Whiskeyjack
The third Greenwing and Dart book is full of the same fun and adventure and magic as its predecessors, plus it starts to solve some of the mysteries surrounding the protagonist's father. This one is maybe more action-packed/plot-forward as opposed to character-focused, but it is still obviously super entertaining and enjoyable.