Tuesday, March 31, 2020

2020 book 70

Anne Tyler's Redhead by the Side of the Road
Tyler's latest focuses on a forty-something man, a slave to his routines, whose life is mildly disrupted when a boy shows up at his door with the mistaken belief that the man is his biological father. Look, I know generally not much HAPPENS in an Anne Tyler novel, but usually I love them anyway. This one didn’t grab me. I loved the scenes where the man interacted with his large, boisterous family, but everything else left me flat. I don’t know if I wasn’t feeling the characters, if this was too short to get me invested, or if it just felt pointless all around. I am bummed but I just wasn’t into it. B.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on April 7th.

Monday, March 30, 2020

2019 book 69

Sharon Shinn’s The Dream-Maker's Magic
Like its predecessor, the third book in this trilogy is set in the same universe, with cameos from previous characters, but focuses on a whole new town of people. The protagonist here is a young girl whose mother is convinced she's supposed to be a boy, and treats her as such. She ends up befriending a boy with a physical handicap (trigger warning here for child abuse) and their story is really sweet. I liked this trilogy a lot; bad things happened but only briefly, and everything always worked out exactly as it should. A-.

Sunday, March 29, 2020

2020 book 68

Sharon Shinn’s The Truth-Teller's Tale
This is not a direct sequel to Safe-keeper's Secret, though it’s set in the same world a few years later and few of those characters appear here. The story here centers on a pair of mirror-image identical twins, who have opposite abilities. It’s fairly obvious how things are going to turn out, but it’s still a nice story. (Or mostly—content warning for an off-scene rape and for scenes involving an abusive father.) B+.

2020 book 67

Sharon Shinn's The Safe-keeper's Secret
I was in the mood for some nice gentle fantasy and this seemed like it would suit! And it did! Interesting characters and world-building, lower level conflicts, enjoyable/satisfying wrap-up. A-.

Friday, March 27, 2020

2020 book 66

Terry Pratchett’s A Hat Full of Sky
The second Tiffany Aching book finds our heroine off to the mountains to get trained by an unusual witch. But she's being pursued by something dangerous. Can she and the Nac Mac Feegles save the day?? Will she learn how to be a witch? Will this story be great? I’ll answer that one: Yes.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

2020 book 65

NK Jemisin's The City We Became
I was saying just the other day that, even though all these new books were coming out that I had planned on reading, I only was in the mood to reread comforting series. And then I got the notice that my preorder of this book was available and was like, HELL YES. Because I knew it would be satisfying and interesting and GOOD, and it was. This is the first of a trilogy where some cities come alive; here, New York is waking up, but an enemy is determined to stop it, and is coming for the people serving as avatars of its boroughs. I gather Jemisin is playing in the Lovecraft sandbox here, but I’ve never read any Lovecraft and still thought this was great. And it’s satisfying on its own, so though of course I am eager to read the next book, I don’t feel frustrated at having to wait. Go read this now. A.

Monday, March 23, 2020

2020 book 64

Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men
Yes, now is the perfect time to reread the Tiffany Aching books. This first one is an excellent start, featuring a sensible girl, armed with a frying pan, who wants to be a witch, off to rescue her baby brother from a fairy queen. And accompanied by the best band of troublemaking little magical dudes any writer ever created. And well-written to boot!

Sunday, March 22, 2020

2020 book 63

Lisa Lutz’s Spellman Six: The Next Generation
This book was originally called The Last Word, but I think the series was rebranded at some point (both titles are equally meaningless). More mysteries, more family antics, more great characters, etc. My cat is on my lap and my wrist is hurting from Animal Crossing so I don’t want to type anymore.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

2020 book 62

Lisa Lutz’s Trail of the Spellmans
I’ve been bitter for like eight years that Lutz spent four books building up a romance, only to then skip ahead two years as the relationship is falling apart. Does it make sense that it wouldn’t work out for these particular characters? Yes. Is that satisfying to the reader? Not in the slightest. Anyway, the mysteries here are fairly inconsequential, if interesting, but Isabel remains a compelling character and the family interactions are hilarious as always.

Friday, March 20, 2020

2020 book 61

Lisa Lutz’s The Spellmans Strike Again
The fourth Spellmans book is another super satisfying one, both for the characters, the mysteries, and for JUSTICE (to some extent).  I just really like how all the pieces fit together in this one.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

2020 book 60

Lisa Lutz’s Revenge of the Spellmans
The third Spellmans book is much more satisfying than the second one, in terms of both the mysteries  and the character development. Some great relationships here too—and not just romantic ones! I am of course partial to Izzy's friendship with her elderly Jewish lawyer. This one nicely balances humor, mystery elements, emotional growth, and family dynamics. What more do you need in a book?

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

2020 book 59

Lisa Lutz's Curse of the Spellmans
The second Spellmans book is a little bit less fun of a reread, because once you know the solution to the main mystery, the protagonist is a lot more frustrating. But it is still /pretty/ fun, because of the way the various storylines interweave, the way the narrative moves back and forth in time, and of course Henry getting to be a more prominent character, adding a lot more hilarity to the mix. If I remember correctly, the next one is stronger, so I’ll keep rereading.

Monday, March 16, 2020

2020 book 58

Lisa Lutz's The Spellman Files
I’m in the mood to reread series I haven’t revisited in a while—to get caught up in something else for a while. I got bitter about this one because a later book breaks up a couple I was super into (lol), but I am just gonna get past it. Anyway, this first one is a great introduction to a very funny mystery series involving the wayward twenty-something daughter of a family of PIs. This one deals with some missing person cases and other PI activities, tennis, a dentist, eccentric relatives, and some car chases. Very fun stuff.

Sunday, March 15, 2020

2020 book 57

Michelle Cooper's The FitzOsbornes at War
The final book of the Montmaray series is a fairly typical, if well-done and interesting, story about upper class people in England during WWII. A satisfying end to the trilogy, for sure.

2020 book 56

Michelle Cooper's The FitzOsbornes in Exile
The second Montmaray book finds our family, as the title, says, adjusting to life in exile. Of course this mainly involves mingling with the highest echelons of British Society (lots of gossip about the Mitfords and appearances from the Kennedys). But war is creeping in. I swear this book is tailored to my particular interests, from the aforementioned Mitfords to the lengthy discussion of Picasso's Guernica. And I love the voice of a young girl coming into her own. Great stuff.

Saturday, March 14, 2020

2020 book 55

Michelle Cooper's A Brief History of Montmaray
This feels like the perfect time to escape into some historical fiction—well, alternate historical fiction. This story is the diary of a teenage girl, a princess of a tiny kingdom on a tiny island between England and Spain, living a quiet life in a rundown castle. But it’s 1936, so things aren’t going to stay quiet for too long. I love the narrative voice here, and the whole cast of eccentrics is compelling. Satisfying stuff.

Friday, March 13, 2020

2020 book 54

Ash Parsons' Girls Save the World in This One
I first wanted to read this because of the bad-ass Jen Bartel cover, but I am also here for books about bad-ass teen girls. Our story takes place at a zombie-themed fandom convention, where our protagonists and her two best friends (and one FORMER best friend) plan to meet the stars of their favorite tv show and do some zombie-themed shopping. Buttttttt . . . some of these zombie cosplayers seem . . . maybe tooooo realistic? Yup, it's a zombie apocalypse! (What better sort of book to read while practicing social distancing due to a pandemic?) I really liked this, it was super engaging and fun and a little bit silly. Great characters and friendships, too. A-.

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

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

2020 book 53

Emily Tesh's Silver in the Wood
This is a really engaging novella about a Wild Man in the woods, and the eager folklorist who encounters him. There is also a sweet cat and a bad-ass middle aged lady. My only complaint is that I wanted this to be fleshed out more--or anyway, I just wanted more! But it works well as it is. And there is a sequel due out in June, which I am looking forward to. A/A-.

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

2020 book 52

Jaclyn Moriarty's Gravity is the Thing
Book club is a couple weeks away, but I really needed to read something GOOD right now. And Jaclyn Moriarty is one of my favorite authors for a satisfying read. This is her adult debut, focusing on a single mother who goes on a weekend retreat to find out more about a mysterious Guidebook. But it’s told with Moriarty's trademark irreverent narrative voice, and there is just so much humanity in it! It’s interesting to see her play with ideas from her YA novels (light waves, guidebooks, human connection) and level them up in this way. It is just really a cathartic read somehow, maybe even more so the second time. A giant row of heart eye emojis for this one.

Saturday, March 07, 2020

2020 book 51

Diana Wynne Jones' Archer's Goon
This is one of the weirder Diana Wynne Jones books, but no less enjoyable for that. It centers on a young boy and his family who get caught up in the machinations of the seven supernatural siblings who secretly control their town—but have higher ambitions. Mildly goofy, a little bit sweet, and definitely satisfying. A-.

Friday, March 06, 2020

2020 book 50

Rainbow Rowell’s Attachments
Still just sinking into pure comfort reading over here. I’ve read this book I don’t know how many times and every time it is a freaking delight. If you somehow haven’t read it, it’s the story of a young man in the late 90s, still nursing an old heartbreak, whose job is to monitor the emails of a newsroom. And it’s the story of two women working there, whose emails are flagged by the system, but he opts not to warn them because he’s interested in their lives. Great friendships and relationships and humor and romance here, for sure. I love everything about this book.

Thursday, March 05, 2020

2020 book 49

Diana Wynne Jones' Deep Secret
Let the comfort reading commence. This book was a great option, because I hadn’t read it in years and didn’t remember the details, but since it was by Diana Wynne Jones, I knew it would be satisfying. And it was! Who doesn’t love a story that involves multiverses, a band of magicians who keep order in the multiverses (including three brothers and a ghost), a sci-fi and fantasy con, lots of magical battles and spells, various mysteries, and a touch of romance? Plus baby chicks and centaurs!   Pure delightful escapism. A/A-.

2020 book 48

Shirley Jackson's Life Among the Savages
I think this memoir would come as a surprise to ppl only familiar with Jackson's fiction, because it is lighthearted and HILARIOUS. It focuses on moving from NYC to Vermont with her young children and husband, adapting to small-town life, dealing with motherhood, etc. There are some GREAT scenes with the cats, too. I know this is kind of a glossy take on Jackson's actual life--in real life her husband was horrible, and these stories were written for women's magazines. I will say that reading this straight through felt sort of same-y after a while, but that just might be me and my general issues with reading non-fiction. Definitely an interesting companion to Jackson's fiction. B+.

Wednesday, March 04, 2020

2020 book 47

Hilary McKay's The Exiles
This is a middle-grade story of four bookish sisters who are sent to spend the summer with their grandmother, who has decided to teach them some practical life skills. Most of this is very funny and sweet, though the girls are occasionally frustratingly clueless (candles are not safe!!). I enjoyed their misadventures and their befriending of the locals, as well as their relationship with their grandmother.    I will definitely be looking out for more by McKay. B+.

Monday, March 02, 2020

2020 book 46

Elizabeth Knox's Absolute Book
I read a review of this book and was like, well, I need to read THAT, and promptly ordered it from New Zealand. At first, the story feels like a traditional mystery--the protagonist's sister is murdered, but the killer is convicted of manslaughter and only serves five years, and the protagonist encourages an acquaintance to take revenge. Now it's several years later, and her best-selling book has thrust her into the limelight--and brought a detective around asking questions. And then things take a turn toward the fantastic. This book brings in all sorts of mythology/folklore/ancient religions, and so it was VERY much up my alley. Parts of it are a little slow but sort of in a meditative way, not in a dull way. The scope of this whole thing is huge and weird and wonderful. I didn't know what to expect from any of it, which is unusual and enjoyable. It does look like after that Slate piece, an American publisher did snag it, so hopefully it'll be here before too long. A.