Emma Lathen’s Accounting for Murder
I really enjoy this series but I’m sort of parceling them out so I don’t burn out on them. In this one, Thatcher is drawn into things when an accountant is murdered while auditing the books for a company where things may be hinky. I did guess what was going on but it was still satisfying to see Thatcher figure it out. A-.
Megan Whalen Turner’s Return of the Thief
I ended up skipping the fifth book, which is kind of a standalone and which I remember being really slow, and jumped right to the conclusion of the series. Solid story, narrated by a disabled boy who witnessed all sorts of historical events firsthand. Good conclusion.
Megan Whalen Turner’s A Conspiracy of Kings
The fourth book brings back one of my favorite characters from book one as political situations get more complicated and a young king has to take back his country. Anyway I’m tired so just know this book is great and this series is great.
Megan Whalen Turner’s The King of Attolia
The third book in this series is told primarily from the POV of guardsman who doesn’t like or respect the new king, and how all that progresses. I do love a character who plans and plots and outsmarts everyone else!
Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen of Attolia
I love a book with POLITICS, PLANS, AND PLOTS! And a tiny bit of a weird romance. Oh, and gods who meddle just a little! Great characters and such a satisfying read.
Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief
Sometimes you’re just in the mood to reread something fun, and this book is fun! It’s actually one of those books that’s better on a reread, when you can see how all the pieces come together. Anyway, it’s the story of a gifted thief who’s forced to come on a mission to find and steal a legendary stone for political reasons. I think one of the reasons I’m rereading this series is I was in the mood for something with politics/diplomacy/cleverness and this hits the mark—please recommend me any other books in this vein!
Annie Hartnett’s The Road to Tender Hearts
I had somehow never heard of this until Christina recommended it to me, even though it’s blurbed by a bunch of authors I like! Any attempt to describe the plot will make it sound overly wacky, when really it’s just a little quirky, heartwarming, and funny (mostly in a dry way, which balances out the other elements). I just realized that almost the first thing that happens in this book is a murder-suicide, so like, take “ quirky” and “heartwarming” with a grain of salt. Reminded me of Kevin Wilson (a compliment!). Bonus points for an awesome cat named Pancakes. A.
T. Kingfisher’s What Stalks the Deep
The third Sworn Soldier book finds Alex and Angus off to America, to help investigate some mysterious happenings at a mine in West Virginia. It’s all very creepy, claustrophobic, weird, and also occasionally sweet? Very entertaining even if I had to put it down a few times and take a break (I’m a wuss!). I was under the impression this series was a trilogy, but the end definitely leaves things open for more adventures, and I hope we’ll see some someday! A/A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 30th.
Mimi Pond’s Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me
Look, I’ll read any bio of the Mitford sisters, but one that is ALSO a graphic novel? *Chef’s kiss* Anyway, this isn’t breaking new ground if you’ve read any of the other bios, but it is much FUNNIER than the other bios. There are also some autobiographical interludes that I’m not sure were necessary but I enjoyed nonetheless. My only complaint is that the book is a lovely blue monochromatic work, but sometimes there was white text on a light blue background that was very hard to read—this may work better in print, and I do have a print copy pre-ordered because this needs to live on my shelves! A/A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on September 16th.
Emma Lathen’s A Place for Murder
The second Emma Lathen book finds bank senior VP John Thatcher called to Connecticut to help the bank president deal with his sister’s divorce. And then of course there’s a murder! And a bunch of plot involving dog shows! (I loved it.) The mystery’s conclusion is perhaps not that satisfying but this is still a very entertaining and funny series. A-.
Emma Lathen’s Banking on Death
I’m always looking for new mystery series to get into, and this was a very promising start. Emma Lathen is actually the pen name of two women who met as grad students at Harvard in the 50s (one worked for the CIA and was later an economics professor at Wellesley, the other was a prominent lawyer), so it makes sense that their protagonist is the vice president of a bank. Things start with trying to track down the missing heir of a trust managed by the bank, but when he turns out to be a murder victim, and their clients are suspects, it’s time to do some digging. This book is very funny in spots and I love all the characters (apparently there’s a whole cast of great recurring characters across the series). Can’t wait to read more. Really satisfying. A/A-.
John Scalzi’s The Shattering Peace
I was in the mood for some sci-fi so figured I’d check out the new book in the Old Man’s War series. The main character here is Zoe’s best friend from the earlier books, now grown up and a diplomat (I /barely/ remembered her but Scalzi does a good job of giving you the relevant info without a ton of exposition). She ends up assigned to a hush-hush mission to help track down a missing colony, and soon all sorts of adventures are happening! I really loved Gretchen as a character—she’s a badass who also thinks on her feet—and this was a lot of fun. I did have a LOT of questions about the science here, and the romance was unnecessary (maybe more satisfying if you remember/are invested in the characters), but still a very entertaining read. A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in September.
Regina Black’s August Lane
When Olivia Waite said this was her favorite romance of the year, I picked it up immediately! It’s a second chance romance involving the daughter of a famous Black country singer, and the now washed-up Black country dude who got famous from a song they cowrote, but she’s never gotten the credit. Now he and her mom are coming back to their small hometown for a big music festival, and she’s threatening to tell the truth about the song unless he writes a new one with her and gives her a chance at a songwriting career of her own. And there are flashbacks to the two in high school, and how they came to write the hit song in the first place. GREAT characters, and I loved the focus on creativity. I also loved a lot of the side characters, just a really well-built world. Content warning for child abuse. A/A-.
Premee Mohammed’s The Siege of Burning Grass
I like the stuff I’ve read by Mohammed and have been meaning to get to this one for a while, but it just won the Aurora so I bumped it up the list. It’s about a guy in a fantasy world who’s in jail for basically being a conscientious objector during a war, but now his people want him to be part of some plot against the enemy that will finally end the war. This book is kind of slow (or maybe it’s just that I’m having an exhausting week at work and didn’t have the energy) but still a compelling story about wartime and resistance. Great ending too. A/A-.
Natania Barron's Netherford Hall
I am always wishing for more queer Jane-Austen-but-with-magic type books, so this was pretty much up my alley. Our heroines are: a witch whose family has basically been wiped out in a fire, so she and her two remaining relatives have returned to their long-abandoned country house, and now she's the magical head of the family/town despite being very unprepared; and a tenant on said country property, an irrepressible young woman with a mysterious past and a secret love of the big country house. The romance here was occasionally annoying (contrived complications), and I think sometimes there were pacing issues with the romance vs the rest of the plot (there's a lot of other plot! Vampires, relatives with their own subplots, other relatives trying to steal the property, magical monsters and magical experiments, nefarious plots, etc). It all takes a little too long to come together. I liked this enough at the beginning to go ahead and buy the sequel, but I don’t think I’ll read it. B.
