2018 book 34

Elizabeth Goudge's The Little White Horse
I had never heard of this book before, but it's apparently something of a classic in England, and it was charming and delightful and magical and just what I was in the mood to read today. It's set in the late 1800s, and centers on an orphaned thirteen year old girl who, with her governess and her (adorable, ridiculous) dog, is sent to live with a heretofore unknown cousin in a mysterious old castle. Can she solve all the old family mysteries and give everyone a happy ending? And will be be a funny and moving journey along the way? I mean, you can probably guess the answer, but it is still worth a read. A-.

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A couple of caveats. This book was written in the 1940s and one of the characters is a little person who is described with some cringeworthy language. Also, the book is full of that sort of benign but pervasive Christianity often found in books from this era. I didn’t find it bothersome as a non-Christian reader, but thought it worth noting.

2018 book 33

Becky Chambers' A Closed and Common Orbit
The second book in the Wayfarers series is not a direct sequel, but more of a spin-off, focusing on a few characters from the previous book and their adventures elsewhere. It’s just as good, though, and maybe even more moving (I just for some reason am really gripped by the portion of the novel where an AI in a space shuttle is raising a little girl, but all of it is really interesting and profound). Ughhhhh, when will book three be out!

2018 book 32

Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
I was excited to reread this for book club and am glad it holds up to a second reading. Interesting world building, great characters, spaceship adventures etc etc. I will also say that based on reports from fellow book clubbers, it is just as appealing to people who don’t usually read sci fi as it is to diehard fans. I of course am about to immediately start rereading the second book, and wish the third one was out already too.

2018 book 31

Karen Healey and Robyn Fleming's The Empress of Timbra
This is a strong entry in the fantasy with court politics/other politics genre, anchored by the sibling relationship at its core. It starts with the son of a fisherman whose beloved father dies at sea, and then he finds out the man wasn’t his biological father when his mother brings him to court, where his father is a Baron—and where he meets his younger half sister, also a bastard, the daughter of the Empress' Witch. I guessed a fair amount of the political plot, but finding out if I was right was still an interesting and intense journey, and it didn’t go entirely as I expected. I also liked the world building here a lot (there is some interesting gender stuff) and found parts of this very funny and parts very moving. It looks like this is the start of a series and I am eager to read more. A/A-.

2018 book 30

Mary H.K. Choi's Emergency Contact
I read this because it was blurbed by Rainbow Rowell, which makes sense, because it has a very Fangirl vibe. And not just because the protagonist is just starting college and wants to be a writer! But because it is about insecurity and vulnerability and learning to make friends and learning to make peace with your family and learning your craft and learning to open up to a cute boy (who is also a compelling POV character in his own right). GREAT stuff. A/A-.

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

2018 book 29

Melina Marchetta's Jellicoe Road
Don’t mind me, I’m just over here weeping after rereading one of my favorite books/comfort reads (why do I love books that make me cry?). This one has two generations of teens with complicated relationships and backstories, lots of secrets, territorial wars, and a little bit of romance. It also is all about learning to be vulnerable and to let people in. It’s just a lovely and moving and gripping story.

2018 book 28

Robin Stevens' A Spoonful of Murder
In the sixth Wells and Wong mystery, the girls find themselves in Hong Kong to mourn Hazel's grandfather—but soon they’re caught up in a murder and kidnapping case! I love these books and I love the girls' friendship, and I especially loved getting to see Hazel on her home turf and taking the lead for once. Stevens apparently did a lot of research and her depiction of 1930s Hong Kong is vibrant. Another great entry in the series. A/A-.

2018 book 27

Tayari Jones' An American Marriage
Jones' Silver Sparrow was one of my favorite books of 2011, so I was eagerly anticipating this novel, especially once the hype kicked in AND it was made an Oprah book. I am please to say it lives up to the hype and then some. It's the story of an upwardly mobile black couple, married just a year and a half, when the husband is put in prison for a crime he didn't commit. It's a beautiful novel, told from both of their POVs and occasionally some others, and also told through their letters. I think I would have thought this novel was GREAT any time I read it, but it feels particularly resonant in early 2018. Just gripping and masterful and GREAT. A.

2018 book 26

Tamora Pierce's Tempests and Slaughter
I feel like I usually like Pierce's books, though I perhaps have found some of the more recent ones overly simplistic. She's going in the other direction here, though--there's a young boy with powerful magic (and a powerful case of puberty, geez louise) and his two friends, one of whom is one of the heirs to the throne, the other of whom is The Girl (who the protagonist has a crush on, of course), and there are lots of politics and magical school things and interfering god and societal issues (it's a brutal society) going on. This did not feel like a Tamora Pierce book to me, in some ways, and I can't pinpoint why--she's had boy protagonists before, so that's not it, though I guess there is usually not as much focus on said boy's penis. The narration also feels really choppy. On the other hand, there is a pretty awesome magical bird as well as a crocodile god, and I liked both of them a lot. I just thought this would be a fun read, but it’s actually a huge bummer. B.

2018 book 25

Kate Greathead's Laura and Emma
I found this book very READABLE, but am still not sure whether I liked it. It centers on a white woman in New York City, from 1980-1995, each year a little vignette of a chapter, starting from a one night stand with a mysterious man that leaves her pregnant. She is from your prototypical very wealthy, cold, white New York family, and is an exemplar of the same, so I found her fairly unlikable (but interesting), and the book really needed more from her daughter towards the end. I thought the writing here was stellar but the story itself was lacking for me. B/B+.

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

2018 book 24

Whitney Gardner's Chaotic Good
I admit I was first drawn to this book by its adorable cover, but the description was immediately appealing too! It’s about a teen girl, a talented seamstress/designer who is super into cosplay, whose family has just moved to Eugene from Portland. When she’s targeted by misogynistic trolls on tumblr, and then a comic book store guy is horrible to her, her gay twin brother helps her dress as a boy so she can feel safe. And then her boy persona gets invited to play D&D, and she falls for the DM, and she’s trying to complete a portfolio for fashion school—well, and stuff goes down! But this was super cute and I loved it, the narrative voice was super likable. And it nails a lot of how current culture hates women and doesn’t even realize it. Great stuff. A/A-.

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

2018 book 23

Justina Ireland's Dread Nation
Ireland's latest novel is a doozy—it’s set in the 1880s, in a world where the Civil War came to a screeching halt when the dead of Gettysburg began to rise, slavery was made illegal but black and native children were conscripted into “schools” to be educated to fight zombies—and protect white civilization. Our protagonist is a black teenage girl with a healthy amount of smarts and sass, not to mention a good hand with a pair of sickles, at one of said schools. The plot is definitely captivating and I liked the characters—especially the friendships between various women—a lot. It looks like this is the start of a series and I am HERE FOR IT. Badass teenage girls fighting zombies and lamenting about corsets is my jam. A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in April. Content warning for a lot of vicious racist and sexist characters (but the story of course acknowledges they are awful.)

2018 book 22

Rainbow Rowell's Carry On
Rowell's books are comfort reading for me--satisfying, sweet, and a little bit sad (JUSTICE FOR LUCY!!!!!!!). She's having a lot of fun with this one, and I love how the magic uses language and pop culture (Rowell recently had an interesting twitter conversation about how this worked in translation, so I was paying extra attention to it this read). I love this story and these characters so much.

2018 book 21

Nancy Atherton’s Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil 
The sixth Aunt Dimity book finds Lori in the north of England to evaluate an old library in a possibly haunted manor. But of course Lori isn’t afraid of ghosts! Or of looking for archival evidence to solve old mysteries! I did cringe every time the word “gypsy” was used but otherwise this was an entertaining outing in this series. B/B+.

2018 book 20

Alice McDermott's The Ninth Hour
I put this on hold at the library so long ago that I no longer remember why I wanted to read it. It was perfectly fine—the story of a three generations of a family in 20th century Brooklyn, and the nearby convent of nuns and and their nursing work. I kept thinking of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but it’s neither as gritty nor as resonant as that classic book. I liked the nuns and found them much more interesting than the mother and daughter they’re helping, but I don’t feel like this story will stick with me. B/B+.

2018 book 19

Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity's Christmas
This was not my favorite book in this series, and not just because I am predisposed to dislike books involving Christmas. This one centers on a mysterious homeless man, and Lori and a bunch of new characters (including a North Carolinian bookseller with a very preposterous dialect) are trying to figure out who he is and whether or not he's insane. Lori acts really weirdly in this one though (she is obsessed with two different dudes who are not her husband), and I found her kind of off-putting. There is also more Christian Values/churchifying than in the previous books, something I hope will taper back off in later volumes. B.

2018 book 18

Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity Digs In
The fourth Aunt Dimity book finds our small British village in an uproar after an archaeologist and his team come to town—and the pamphlet proving the Roman finds are a hoax has been stolen from the vicar's desk! Haha, I love a cozy mystery with totally low stakes. I also love this series because it has prominent stuffed animals (I am partial to stuffed bunnies, myself) that may or may not be magical. It’s nice to read something so gentle. A-/B+.

2018 book 17

Chelsey Johnson's Stray City
This book has been getting SO MUCH buzz, and I was like, well, it can’t live up to the hype, but it seems interesting, let’s give it a look-see, and then I just sat and read it all in one sitting because it really is that GOOD. I feel like describing the plot doesn’t do it justice, so the quick version is: a young lesbian woman in Portland in the late 90s, coming off a bad breakup, gets involved with a DUDE and ends up pregnant. But that is almost all besides the point to me; it is so much more about community and found families and love and hope and growing up and art. It’s just wonderful. Seriously, I was just engrossed and enchanted the entire time. A.

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

2018 book 16

Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity's Good Deed
The third Aunt Dimity book picks up two years after the first, and finds our heroine back in England, struggling with distance in her marriage, when her father in law vanishes, leaving behind a mysterious note. Soon she and the hilarious and precocious girl next door are on a road trip to try and track him down—and uncover the secrets of his British cousins. The mystery here is even more vague than in the previous two, but I just find these books really entertaining and delightful. A-/B+.

2018 book 15

Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity and the Duke
No ghosts in the second Aunt Dimity book, which flashes back to show how the friendly and helpful neighbor couple from the first one met—with the help of Aunt Dimity, of course! This one involves a duke, a possibly murdered rock star, a missing lantern with magical powers, a pair of cool little kids, and a lot of gardening. I liked it a lot, even if it did lean a bit hard on the benevolent lord o' the land sort of stuff. B+.

2018 book 14

Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity's Death
I've been vaguely aware that this series existed for a while, but didn't know much about it except that the protagonist solves mysteries with the help of a friendly ghost. I was in the mood for some light but entertaining reading, though, and thought I'd try this out--and it fit the bill perfectly. I found the narrative voice to be engaging right away, and Atherton takes her time setting up the world in this first one. It centers on a thirty year old woman, Lori, recently divorced and temping, when her beloved mother dies, leaving her adrift. And then things take another turn when she discovers the silly stories her mother told her about "Aunt Dimity" were based on a real person, who has also recently died, and who wants Lori to go to her cottage in England and read through her decades of correspondence with Lori's mother. The ghost does come into it eventually, and there is a little bit of mystery solving as Lori tries to uncover the secrets of Dimity's past, but this seems to be the start of a series that is just as focused on the characters as on the plot. My favorite kind. Super cute. A/A-.

2018 book 13

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I am still dipping back into rereading these, even though my trip is done. I am a completist and I gotta read 'em all! It’s hard to judge this one on this own merits, but it does have some interesting ups and downs for Harry and some really funny bits as well. I think this is the only one that doesn’t end in some sort of big showdown, but instead a quiet reflection on loss.

2018 book 12

Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious
Look, I am one hundred percent here for YA boarding school mysteries but Johnson is doing that thing here where she thinks writing for a younger audience means using super simple language, which makes for a choppy read. The plot is fun--a new student at a mysterious, elite boarding school is trying to solve a famous kidnapping/murder case that took place at said school in the 1930s. I did especially love that the protagonist was from Pittsburgh (with several appropriate references to the Monroeville Mall, haha! Stevie, I too have failed to impress people with my knowledge that Dawn of the Dead was filmed there). I did get very caught up in all the mysteries, but it seems this is the first book in a series so the end is rather frustrating. I will definitely read the next one though. B/B+.

2018 book 11

Heather Lloyd's My Name is Venus Black
I just read this book all in one sitting, but I still can’t quite pinpoint exactly how I felt about it. It is compelling, but maybe a bit too on the women's fiction end of the spectrum to really satisfy me? It centers on a thirteen year old girl, under arrest for a terrible crime, who years later is trying to rebuild her life and hide from her past. And also her developmentally disabled brother has been kidnapped. I liked many parts of this but the ending was perhaps a bit too pat. B/B+.

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

2018 book 10

Kamilla Benko's The Unicorn Quest
Benko's debut is, for the most part, a well written and engaging MG fantasy portal novel, where a younger sister follows her older sister (who is in remission from an unnamed disease) into a fantasy world, where different factions have different magical abilities and where unicorns once loved but now are gone. With the help of two new friends and her lucky pencil, she must track down her older sister and maybe find out more about these unicorns along the way. The author occasionally leans too heavily on the art metaphors (the protagonist is a young artist), and I found the epilogue a bit frustrating but inevitable for all that—still, I liked these characters enough that when the sequel comes out, I will most likely read it. B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on January 30th.

2018 book 9

Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere
Ah, the sheer relief of rereading a book for book club and finding it just as excellent as the first time you read it. It was funny to read another book set in the 90s just after reading Sunburn, but Ng's centering of her story in that specific time and place feels a lot more effortless for some reason. Everything about this is rock solid: the characterizations; the compelling, intertwined plot; the writing itself. And what a perfect portrayal of microagressions and clueless white privilege! And complicated families! Just an excellent book.

2018 book 8

Laura Lippman's Sunburn
I tend to like Lippman's stand-alones better than her long-running Tess Monaghan series, but this wasn't one of my favorites. Set in the summer of 1995 (and there are many references to tell you so), it centers on a mysterious woman who has left her family behind for mysterious reasons, and the mysterious man very interested in her affairs, and their inevitable relationship. I found both characters somewhat sympathetic and interesting, but found the end to be something of a letdown. It’s still an enjoyable read, just not one of Lippman's best. B.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on February 20th.

2018 book 7

Sujata Massey's The Widows of Malabar Hill
I think this book is the start of a new series—or anyway, I hope it is, because I enjoyed it a lot. It’s set in 1920s Bombay, and centers on a young woman who is Bombay's first female lawyer (working for her awesome supportive lawyer father). Her gender comes in handy when some discrepancies pop up concerning a Muslim estate whose three widows live in purda (seclusion)—and then there’s a murder. This is all interspersed with flashbacks to a dark time in her past. She also has an English best friend from Oxford who is a not-so-secret lesbian. It’s one of those mysteries that is just as much about the characters and settings as it is the actual mystery plot, and I hope to see more of it soon. A-.

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

2018 book 6

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Sometimes I have less patience for Teen Angst Harry Potter, but this time around I was like YEAH! YELL about injustice! LEAD revolutionary groups (with the inspiration and help of Hermione, of course)! Of course one does wish that Harry was occasionally more sensible, but then there would be much less to the story. I mean, it is slightly unwieldy, but Rowling does pull most of the threads together in the end. I do sometimes wish we saw more of Hermione's parents ans their home life—the fleeting glimpses here and there are so interesting.

2018 book 5

Kathleen Barber's Are You Sleeping
I heard of this book recently when it was optioned for a tv show (an Apple digital one) set to star Octavia Spencer. It centers on a true-crime podcast, looking into the murder of a popular college professor and the teenager convicted of the crime--and on the murder victim's now-adult daughter, who has been keeping her past secret from her long-term boyfriend. There is also an estranged identical twin sister! So basically, it was right up my alley. The novel is peppered with tweets, Slate articles, and Reddit comments, which totally adds to the verisimilitude. I will say the writing is overly dramatic a lot of the time, and the climax was something of a letdown, but this was still a very entertaining read. B.

2018 book 4

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Finishing rereading this is the perfect way to wrap up my Harry Potter vacation! I had been alternating the HP books with other ones, but from here on out, I just want to plow through the rest of the story. This book is so well plotted and the characterization is just excellent—really a high point in the series.

2018 book 3

Elizabeth Wein's Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Cobalt Squadron
Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME?!? How did I not know that Elizabeth Wein, author of my beloved Code Name Verity, wrote one of the STAR WARS TIE IN NOVELS?? Just imagine  a chorus of angels singing right now to fully understand my feelings on this matter. Anyway, this focuses on awesome sisters Paige and Rose Tico, flying spaceships and jerry-rigging equipment and doing reconnaissance missions for the Resistance. (And yes it does talk about their necklaces and yes Disney really need to get some officially licensed jewelry to market.) I also loved that all of the leadership figures we see are middle aged women! If there is one thing Wein is an expert in, it is telling stories about ladies who love each other and also fly airplanes, so this is a gimme. Love it. A-.

2018 book 2

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Besides being generally one of the strongest books in the HP series, this one in particular is the PERFECT book to reread before visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, since it lovingly describes so many details of both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. The more I reread these, though, the more it becomes obvious that Snape's character cannot be redeemed. Does the wizarding world not have therapists? That guy needs to work on his anger issues.

2018 book 1

Jaclyn Moriarty's The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone
Starting the year off with a super charming middle grade fantasy adventure by one of my favorite authors seemed like the way to go! In this very funny and sweet story, the titular ten year old finds out her parents—who left her with an aunt as a baby to go off and have adventures—have been killed by pirates, and their magical will has very specific instructions sending her off on adventures to see her ten aunts and deliver them gifts. There are also lots of delightful cousins, a helpful loud librarian, good and bad magical types, and a very awesome and clever heroine. I liked this very much and am psyched it looks like Moriarty is writing another book set in this world. A.

2017 book 217

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
I maintain that this is the weakest of the HP books, but the creation of Gilderoy Lockhart is an all-time winner. A champion example of a hilarible mansplainer. I will also submit a hot take at this time: I do NOT understand y’all who are into Draco Malfoy. In the first book he is a snobbish asshole; in this one, he is straight up racist and relishes the thought of Muggle-borns dying. So like, what is the appeal there? Anyway, Hermione manages to save the day while basically in a coma, so yay for that.

It looks like this is the last book of the year for me—here’s to more good reading in 2018!

2017 book 216

Kim Fu's The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore 
This book has been getting a TON of buzz and let me tell you, it lives up to the hype. It’s centered on a group of young girls at a summer camp in Vancouver, and a kayaking trip that goes awry, flashing back and forth between that event and the girls' young adulthoods. It’s compelling and evocative stuff. Just really outstanding. A.

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

2017 book 215

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
I will very soon be going to THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER, fulfilling what feels like a lifelong dream—even though I know that is not logically possible—so of course I had to immerse myself in some HP to prepare. This is such a good intro to the world and sets up so much of the later stuff, though I do think Dumbledore is way more problematic than intended. This is balanced out by NEVILLE. I LOVE YOU, NEVILLE.

2017 book 214

Thisbe Nissen's Our Lady of the Prairie 
Literary novels about middle aged academics having affairs have never been something I was particularly interested in, but this one grabbed me—at first—with its strong narrative voice. The fact that the narrator is a middle aged Jewish woman theater professor also made this feel a bit fresher, plus the first half of the novel turns on her mentally ill daughter's marriage to an Amish man—so a lot of balls are being juggled, but I found it compelling enough. Things start to drag as the narrator becomes mired in indecision and self pity, and I could have done without a lengthy dream sequence about WWII French collaborators as well as the lengthy retreads of the Bush-Kerry election (the novel is set in 2004 for some reason). I just found this all to be more insufferable the longer it went on. B-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on January 23.

2017 book 213

Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood
Protagonist Alice is a teenage girl whose single mother has moved her from place to place, trying to outrun their bad luck. She is also the granddaughter of a reclusive author of creepy fairy tales who has a cult following. When they hear said grandmother has died, they think they are finally free, but that is when things really start to go wrong. This story was weird, and creepy, and unexpected, and awesome. I read this all in one sitting and loved almost every second of it. A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on January 30th.

2017 book 212

Ann Patchett's Bel Canto
I have had three separate conversations about Patchett recently, which of course made me want to reread some Patchett! I am personally not into opera, but this story is so operatic (and I guess they did actually make an opera of it recently, to boot) that it makes me want to try and get into it! If you have somehow not read this book, it is the story of a group of South American guerillas who take a party of fancy people hostage. It is beautiful and tragic. State of Wonder is probably an even stronger novel, but this one really speaks to me.

2017 book 211

Jodi Lynn Anderson's My Diary from the Edge of the World
This is a perfectly fine middle grade book set in a world that is very similar to ours, except that it's also got a lot of paranormal creatures wreaking havoc--oh, and it's flat. The book is meant to be the diary of a middle-schooler but the narrative voice was not particularly authentic to me. Still, it's an interesting story of a family on the run, trying to escape a terrible fate, and maybe make it to the Extraordinary World--our world. I liked the family relationships here but wished for a little bit more, I guess? B/B+.

2017 book 210

Sage Blackwood's Miss Ellicott's School for the Magically Minded
This was a very cute MG fantasy centered on a girl at the titular school, who has to band together with her friends to save the city with magic and heart and the occasional crossbow. The book doesn’t make light of the cost of war but there are some funny moments, and I especially liked all the little magical schoolgirls (and Anna!). I also liked that it talked about things like the inaccuracies of history lessons. Good stuff. A-/B+.

2017 book 209

Erika Johansen’s The Fate of the Tearling
The conclusion to Johansen’s Tearling trilogy improves on a second reading, when you can see her laying the groundwork for how things are going down. There is still a lot going on, but not in a bad way, and I appreciate how she humanizes (some of) her villains in this volume. Still a lot of sexual violence and rape threats, which I personally prefer less of in my epic fantasy. I’ve read that the author is planning more books set in this universe, and I’ll read them, or anything else she writes, because she has a deft hand with plot and characterization.

2017 book 208

Erika Johansen's The Invasion of the Tearling
Another gripping one, even though I have read it before! In the second Tearling book, the narrative is divided between the young queen, and a woman from our near future (a future that feels nearer every day, frankly), which answers a lot of questions about the world and how it came to be. Unfortunately this volume ramps up the sexual violence, which does make a lot of it hard to read. Still a solid story though.

2017 favorites!

All right, we've reached the point in the year where I admit to myself that I am not going to read any more of the big 2017 books and have succumbed to the peer pressure to tally up my favorite books and albums!

2017 was mostly a terrible year but I did get to see Hamilton on Broadway with two of my closest friends and also I knitted several giant shawls, so I call that a win. It was also a great year for STUFF!

Alicia's Top 10 Albums of 2017 (in alphabetical order)*:

Aimee Mann's Mental Illness
All Our Exes Live in Texas' When We Fall
Alvvays' Antisocialites
Belle and Sebastian's How to Solve Our Human Problems (Part 1)
Charly Bliss' Guppy
Coco Hames' Self-titled
Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton's American Dream
A Giant Dog's Toy
Slowdive's Self-titled
Sweet Spirit's St. Mojo

*I acknowledge that this list is not very diverse.

Alicia's Top 11 Books of 2017 (in alphabetical order):

Naomi Alderman's The Power
Kristin Cashore's Jane Unlimited
Louise Erdrich's Future Home of the Living God
T. Kingfisher's Summer in Orcus
Meg Howrey's The Wanderers
N.K. Jemisin's The Stone Sky
Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere
Elizabeth Strout's Anything is Possible
Angie Thomas' The Hate U Give
Scarlett Thomas' Dragon's Green
Gabrielle Zevin's Young Jane Young

Here's hoping to a better 2018 with lots more great books and music!

2017 book 207

Erika Johansen's Queen of the Tearling
Rereading this for book club, I was struck anew by what a compulsively readable book this is. I mean, I've read it several times and remembered it pretty well, and I still had a hard time putting it down. I will say that, having now read the third book, it seems clear that Johansen had something different in mind when she wrote this one, but that is not a major complaint. I really enjoy this story of a young queen coming into her own in the far future with the help of magic and her trusty Guards. Content warning for many mentions of rape, though there are no graphic depictions.

2017 book 206

Elizabeth Hand's Waking the Moon
This was a weird moment to read this particular book, because a large part of my brain was yelling "BURN IT ALL DOWN!" and almost cheering on the character trying to resurrect the moon goddess and her matriarchal, sacrificial murder cults, despite the, y'know, murders. But to back up for a second: I like Elizabeth Hand a lot, though I do find some of her books to be a bit unsettling, and this was definitely one of those times. The action starts at a mysterious college in DC in the 1970s, where warring religious secret societies enter the lives of some first-years. The protagonist is your usual girl who feels out of place and doesn't really know what's going on and is consumed by feelings for various beautiful people, and then things go very awry and her story picks up almost twenty years later. I did like this book but thinking about it too much makes my head hurt, and I am not gonna get into the inappropriate yet mystical romances. It is VERY atmospheric though. A-.

2017 book 205

Mitali Perkins' You Bring the Distant Near
This seems to be marketed as a YA title, I assume b/c Perkins' previous works were YA, but this is definitely a crossover title. It centers on three generations of Indian-American woman as they struggle to reconcile their cultures and their issues with each other (there is also a fair amount of focus on their romances). Very readable and great characters, if a teensy bit on the cheesy side. Nothing wrong with the occasional multicultural heartwarming read! A/A-.

2017 book 204

Frances Hardinge's A Skinful of Shadows
Hardinge is an author I have heard good things about, ans her latest novel seemed really interesting—set at the beginning of the English Civil War, it centers on a young girl from a family with mysterious powers that she wants nothing to do with, so she ends up on the run to escape them—and to maybe find a way to save her brother from their clutches. I really liked this and loved how it wrapped up. A-.

2017 book 203

Catherine Lloyd's Death Comes to the School
The fifth Kurland St Mary books finds our protagonists dealing with marital discord (after a pair of miscarriages) as well as the murder of the awful local schoolteacher, who may have been killed after writing a series of poison pen letters. Of course, the former could be handled with one honest conversation, but the latter is a fairly interesting mystery. I still enjoy this series a lot. B+.

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

2017 book 202

Kari Maaren's Weave a Circle Round
Maaren's debut novel reads like a modern Diana Wynne Jones story to me, which is one of th highest compliments I can give. It centers on a fourteen year old girl in Canada who just wants to pass through life—and high school—unnoticed, which is complicated when a pair of eccentric strangers move next door and become entangled with her sister, their stepbrother, and herself. The story touches on English poetry and mythology from around the world, had great characters and great adventures, and I pretty much loved it. A/A-.

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

2017 book 201

Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date
Do you want to read a super cute romance novel that might as well be a 90s romcom? Then order this book immediately! It centers on a black woman from Berkeley, the mayor's chief of staff, who meets-cute in a broken elevator with a cute white doctor who needs a date to his ex's wedding, and the usual romance story shenanigans ensue, but it was all very charming and I liked how Guillory handled the interracial romance. Basically a fun delight about the importance of good communication. A-.

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

2017 book 200

T. Kingfisher's Clockwork Boys
A new Ursula Vernon book is always an event, and this one is the start of a series, which is even better. It centers on your usual group of ragtag misfits on a suicide mission in a fantasy world, but of course with the usual Vernon sense of humor and twists and turns. Great stuff and can’t wait to see what happens next. A-.

2017 book 199

Leni Zumas' Red Clocks
Continuing my habit of reading feminist dystopian fiction with this one—set in the near future, in a world where the US has finally granted personhood to fetuses, this story focuses on four women in a small town in Oregon. Obviously I found some of these women more compelling than others, but it was interesting to see them through each other's eyes. I think Zumas is a very fine writer, this is a very well done book, and I eagerly await whatever she does next. A-.

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

2017 book 198

Karen McManus' One of Us is Lying
It is once again time for THANKSGIVING SISTER BOOK CLUB, where my sister and I read the same book and then discuss it during Thanksgiving break, sometimes over fro-yo. This one has a great premise--it is Breakfast Club with a murder mystery! Yes, five teens are in after-school detention, and one of them--who just happens to run a gossip app (why is it an app and not like a Twitter account? Who knows)--ends up DEAD. Who killed him, and what secrets are they hiding? Was it the brain, the princess, the jock, or the Judd Nelson one? The story is told from all four POVs and McManus does a pretty good job of making each character believable and interesting, and of ramping up the tension. The end is fairly silly, but I expected nothing less. B+.

2017 book 197

Marian Keyes' The Mystery of Mercy Close
Ah, and now we arrive at the fifth Walsh sisters book, the one Rainbow Rowell recommended, and it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Protagonist Helen, the youngest sister, has appeared in all the previous books as a bit of a troublemaker, who eventually becomes a PI, and this story does focus on her trying to track down a missing former boy-bander—but it also deals quite a bit with her struggle with mental illness. It is less funny than its predecessors but just as moving and entertaining. I really liked how this one wrapped up. A-.

2017 book 196

Marian Keyes' Anybody Out There?
The fourth Walsh sisters book is I think the strongest of the series (I say that without having read the 5th one yet)—even though I pretty quickly picked up what Keyes was throwing down, I still cried several times. This one centers on fourth sister Anna, who in the previous books was kind of hippy dippy, but now has her act together and works as a publicist for a cosmetics company in New York (which was of course  right up my alley). I really liked the family relationships and friendships in this one, particularly. Really surprisingly moving. A-.

2017 book 195

Marian Keyes' Angels
The third Walsh sisters book focuses on second sister Margaret—the “good one”—who, after her marriage falls apart, goes to stay with her best friend, a struggling screenwriter who lives in Los Angeles. I liked the narrative voice here, and the way things were gradually revealed, but I found this to be the least satisfying of the three I’ve read. Keyes also sometimes leans a bit too heavily on racial stereotypes, which feels unnecessary. I mean, I was still entertained, and Maggie is a great character, but this wasn’t my favorite. B.

2017 book 194

Marian Keyes’ Rachel's Holiday
After the first Walsh sisters book, I was expecting something on the chick lit/women's fiction lighter side spectrum, but this was a bit more serious. It centers on middle sister Rachel, who is forced into a rehab center by her parents and gradually comes to terms with her drug addiction. It is super compelling and moving. A-.

2017 book 193

Marian Keyes' Watermelon
Rainbow Rowell recently recommended the fifth book in this series on Twitter, but I am a completist and so I started with book one. The series focuses on five sisters from an Irish family; in this first one, eldest sister Claire has just given birth when her husband announces that he's leaving her for another woman. Like literally, the day she gives birth! So she goes home to Dublin to stay with her parents and two youngest sisters (I loved the sister relationships here) to try and figure out what to do next. At first I was like, this is a cute mid-90s women’s fiction sort of story with occasionally brilliant humor, but towards the end I was super engaged with the heroine's emotional journey—it just really resonated with conversations I am having with friends right now. There is a great moment where she just runs out of f—ks entirely and I was practically cheering. I will say that this did not seem like an accurate depiction of new motherhood to me, but it was a very entertaining story and I already have the rest of the series checked out from the library. A-/B+.

2017 book 192

Dara Horn's Eternal Life
A new Dara Horn book is always an eagerly anticipated event for a Jewish nerd such as myself, and this one did not at all disappoint. Our protagonist is a woman who has lived many lifetimes—2000 years worth of them, in fact—and is reluctant to leave her current family behind—even though one of her granddaughters is a scientist working with gene therapies. And meanwhile, one other immortal person exists—a guy who has been obsessed with her for these same 2000 years. I found her story to be amazingly compelling (and of course loved the depiction of ancient Judaism) and such a fascinating look at motherhood, and I loved the way things concluded. I was less interested in the weird/toxic romantic relationship dynamics on display, but on the whole thought this was excellent. A/A-.

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

2017 book 191

Leena Likitalo's The Sisters of the Crescent Empress
The second book in Likitalo's duology, a fantasy/alternate history inspired by the Romanovs, left me almost breathless! I loved the journeys of the five sisters (though Elise is more sympathetic and compelling in the first one) and the end had me going “oh whaaaaaaat” but like in a good way. I a, pretty sure this is the end of the story, and while I found the ending fitting, I would one hundred percent read more in this universe. And will definitely read more from this author. A/A-.

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

2017 book 190

Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace
I had intended to reread this before the Netflix miniseries was released, but time got away from me, so I ended up reading and watching in tandem (it is an excellent and faithful adaptation). This is maybe one of my top three Atwood books—it is a retelling of the famous story of a young Irish-Canadian girl convicted of murder, but it is also a story about the ways women are viewed, and judged, by society. Just excellent.

2017 book 189

Katherine Rundell's The Explorer
Oooh I do love a good survival novel, and this middle grade story was pretty satisfying—it centers on four children who survive a plane crash in the Amazon and have to figure out what to do—and signs suggest someone else has been in their deserted spot in the past. I liked these characters a lot, though of course wished the main POV character was one of the little girls. (Both girls are pretty awesome though, pet sloths for life.) A/A-.

2017 book 188

Maggie Stiefvater's All the Crooked Saints
Even when I don’t love a Maggie Stiefvater book, I inevitably think it is interesting, which was the case here. And I mean, I didn't /dislike/ it, really. I am predisposed to like magical realism, especially magical realism that also has a pirate radio station, and I love stories that weave in folklore the way this one does. I did not love the narrative voice and was at times uncomfortable with a white author writing about Mexican magic and religion (an author's note at the end explains that she did consult experts and had sensitivity readers). This was good but could have been better if an editor has pushed it a little. B+.

2017 book 187

Catherine Lloyd's Death Comes to the Fair
In the fourth entry in Lloyd's Kurland St Mary series, romances are progressing, but the town is up in arms due to some poor judging of vegetables at the local fair (who can’t relate to that, am I right), and when the winner of the prizes is found dead, the two protagonists wonder if it was foul play. But of course things go deeper than carrots, leading to another fairly predictable but still mostly satisfying conclusion. I like seeing the rector's daughter chase against the sexist restrictions of her time, and I like that her love interest respects her and sees her as a partner in their crime solving. I mean this series is fairly silly but I like it anyway. B/B+.

2017 book 186

Catherine Lloyd's Death Comes to Kurland Hall
The third book in the Kurland St Mary series picks up shortly after the last left off, and finds our intrepid duo trying to solve the murder of a blackmailing woman who everyone had reason to dislike. The resolution is fairly obvious, though I admit there were a couple of twists I didn't expect. The dude is a little bit more heavy-handed/slightly sexist in this one which I didn't LOVE but it was fine. I'm still going to go ahead and read the next one. B/B+.

Belated book review -- book 185

Agatha Christie's The Seven Dials Mystery
I actually read this back in September, but scheduled this blog post for October 23th because I was reading it for a LearnedLeague One-Day I was co-smithing and didn't want to give anything away to any of my LL friends. :) This centers on a clock-themed secret society, some murders, and the Bright Young Things (led by "it girl" Bundle Brent) who are determined to get to the bottom of things. A lot of this is very funny, though I could have done without the casual anti-Semitism. I also felt conclusion was a little silly. Entertaining, though! B/B+.

2017 book 184

Catherine Lloyd's Death Comes to London
In the second book in Lloyd’s Kurland St Mary series, the two protagonists find themselves in London—she's there for the Season, trying to find a husband, and he's there to receive a baronetcy. And soon they are on the trail of a POISONER! Again, I like the characters a lot, though the resolution to the mystery was pretty obvious. I do want to see what these wacky kids get up to next. A-/B+.

2017 book 183

Catherine Lloyd's Death Comes to the Village
This is the first book of a series, historical mysteries set in a village in Regency England. In this one, the rector's eldest daughter teams up with the local lord—bedridden due to an injury at Waterloo—to look into a series of thefts and the disappearance of a housemaid. I liked the characters here a lot, and the mystery was fairly well plotted. It looks like these two might eventually have a romance, but it will be a slow building one, which I always like. I will definitely check out the next book in this series. A-/B+.

2017 book 182

Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage
You had better believe that I made an exception for my "white dude writers--who needs 'em?" rule when Pullman is writing a new trilogy set in the His Dark Materials Universe. Apparently this new trilogy is an "e-quel" as opposed to a sequel or prequel, as its events will unfold alongside the previous books'. This first volume centers on a boy who gets tangled up with baby Lyra--and with a young woman academic who is part of a secret liberal spy group! Pullman knows how to write a story that just grabs you--though toward the end I was like "please stop having this poor boy get distracted by puberty, there are kind of a lot of other things going on!" Anyway, this was pretty awesome and I eagerly await its follow-ups. A/A-.

2017 book 181

Ann Leckie's Provenance 
I enjoyed Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy, and so was eager to read another book set in that universe, but I found this was slightly underwhelming. The characters were all really interesting, I just wish there had been more going on in the plot. There are plans, and counter plans, and political shenanigans, and everyone is obsessed with “vestiges,” which basically seem to be historical ephemera (you would think as someone trained as a librarian, this would be up my alley! But it was just endless). The story picks up in the last third and I liked how it wrapped up a lot, it was just a bit of a slog to get to that point. B/B+.

2017 book 180

Carol Rifka Brunt's Tell the Wolves I'm Home
This was my first time rereading this novel since I first read it, back when it was one of my favorite books of 2012. I sometimes treat my book club as an excuse to revisit books I've loved and to make my friends talk about them with me. :) I think this held up really well--it still felt really visceral and moving, but I had forgotten how uncomfortable some parts of it are. It's set in the 80s and centers on a girl whose beloved uncle has just died of AIDS--and then the partner she never knew he had gets in touch with her. There are other interesting family dynamics at work here too. I just like this book a lot.

2017 book 179

Chloe Benjamin's The Immortalists
This book centers on four Russian-Jewish siblings in 1969 New York who go to see a fortune teller who tells each of them the day they will die, and then the story follows each of them until their fateful days. I enjoyed parts of each of these stories, primarily Klara's struggles to be taken seriously as a magician, but I found both her ending and her elder brother's to be beyond implausible, and young Simon, a gay man in early 80s San Francisco, was largely a cliche. Benjamin attempts to end things on a hopeful note with eldest Varya, but I found this whole book to be kind of a bummer. Parts of it were really interesting, but I felt like it was trying too hard to be a Serious Literary Work Saying Something Profound About The Human Condition. B.

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

2017 book 178

Leila Sales' Once Was a Time
I am always here for TIME TRAVEL FRIENDSHIP books, and this was a pretty solid one. It centers on ten year old Lottie, living in England during WWII, hanging out with her best friend Kitty, with a dad who studies TIME TRAVEL for the war effort. And one night things get a little crazy and Lottie finds herself in modern times America--all alone, and with a hefty helping of survivors' guilt for leaving Kitty behind. I will say I found parts of the first half of his book implausible--not because of the time travel, but because of some of the character elements. But all the adults in this book are great--hooray for a helpful and somewhat realistic librarian, and hooray for kind foster parents. And the back half of this book was pretty great and had me weeping just a little bit. Good stuff. Makes me want to reread Charlotte Sometimes. A-/B+.

2017 book 177

Laurie Colwin's Happy All the Time
I saw this book mentioned here and since it only cost 78 cents, figured it was worth a shot! Sometimes you just want to read a pleasant book about pleasant people! And this was actually pretty funny. It was written in the 70s (and is VERY 70s New York) and centers on two guys, cousins and best friends, and the stubborn women they marry. I was of course partial to the cranky Jewish girl determined to hide her soft interior, but all four are very likable, even if not very fleshed out. I mean, not much happens here besides pleasant people hanging out, but that was pretty good all on its own. A-/B+.

2017 book 176

Rachel Hartman's Tess of the Road
Hartman's latest is set in the same universe as Seraphina and Shadow Scale, but is not a direct sequel—instead it focuses on one of Seraphina's human half-sisters, a stubborn, troubled, irrepressible young girl who runs away from home and ends up on a quest straight out of her beloved stories. I found this book to be unexpected in a lot of ways, but really appreciated the story Hartman is telling about womanhood and family and finding—or making—a place for yourself. And I loved where it ended, and can’t wait to see what happens next. Content warning for a couple mentions of sexual assault. A/A-.

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

2017 book 175

Rachel Hartman's Shadow Scale
I'm still reacquainting myself with the world of Seraphina before the new book in that universe comes out, and I forgot how intense this second volume in! A completely terrifying antagonist makes an appearance and many more political situations are afoot. I do love the world building here, and the characters are all really interesting. Total deus ex machina though, heh.

2017 book 174

Rachel Hartman's Seraphina
Hartman has a new book coming out in this universe in February, so I wanted to reread this and its companion to re-a quaint myself with the world—not that I really need an excuse to reread a book I love! And I do still love it!

2017 book 173

E.K. Johnston's That Inevitable Victorian Thing
All I knew about this book going in was a) the awesome title, b) the author, who I generally like, and c) it had a cool-looking cover. So imagine how delighted I was to discover this story takes place in an alternate world where Queen Victoria was apparently like "colonialism is dumb, let's unite the empire" and married her kids and grandkids off to rulers across the empire, instead of their European cousins. (It is unclear how this affected the Russian Revolution, though the United States are no longer so united.) Also she made it so her daughter could inherit the crown instead of having it go to a son. So now it is several generations later, and three young women are preparing for their debuts (because they still have those, whatever, let's just roll with it)--and one of them is secretly the Crown Princess, undercover. There is also a whole thing with a computer genetics/matchmaking system run by the Church of England. There is no way to describe this without sounding silly, I am starting to realize, but it is super charming and kind of fluffy over a steely interior. I wish to live in a world like this one (I initially typed “love” instead of “live”—that, too). A-.

2017 book 172

JY Yang's The Red Threads of Fortune
The problem with a novella is that often the story is a little bit thin--I wished the first one had more to it just because I enjoyed it and felt like there was room for more, but this one needed more to make the story work, for me. It is just kind of all over the place and nonsensical a lot of the time. Various political plots are happening, and the prophet character just keeps changing her mind about who to trust. I was interested in her exploration of grief, less so in her stupidity. I also wished, in both this and its companion, that there had been more time for the romantic relationships to build. I think this universe is interesting, but I hope the next few stories Yang is planning are meatier. B.

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

2017 book 171

JY Yang's The Black Tides of Heaven
This is one of a pair of novellas released on the same day—which makes sense, since the central characters are a pair of twins, children of the ruler of their empire. Their mother has promised them to the local monastery, but when one of the children turns out to be a prophet, plans change. I chose to read this one first because it explains more of the background of the characters and their world (I think the fantasy classification here is silkpunk, which so far I like way more than steampunk) but am eager to see what the other one has in store. A-.

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

2017 book 170

Kendare Blake's One Dark Throne
The first book in this series was fairly formulaic, but the end intrigued me enough to want to read the second—and initially I thought this was a duology and things would wrap up here, but that seems not to be the case. Parts of this were too slow for me—I wanted things the audience knew to be revealed to the characters much quicker than they were—but once again Blake writes an intriguing enough ending that I am curious to see where the story goes next, even though I didn’t find this one super compelling. B/B+.

2017 book 169

Elizabeth Jane Howard's All Change
All right, I am finally done with this series, which was admittedly addictive but also mildly annoying at times. (Howard seems to honestly think Archie is some sort of romantic figure when I found him manipulative and predatory--also she kind of keeps de-aging him but he is an old dude who creeps on vulnerable young women.) Anyway, this final volume--published more than a decade after the 4th one--finds the ever-growing Cazelet family in the mid to late 1950s, dealing with societal change and the usual personal misfortunes. This volume in particular had some completely over-the-top subplots and I could have done with less of a focus on thirtysomething horndog Teddy (also, a couple of the characters just completely disappeared--whatever happened to Wills?). I did like that it sort of wrapped up as Rachel's story--she was one of my favorites for sure. And it was nice to be immersed in another world for a while. B/B+.

2017 book 168

Elizabeth Jane Howard's Casting Off
The fourth book in the Cazelet Chronicles is more of the same, as the family adjusts to post-war life, relationships change, etc. I am still primarily most interested in the women, but Hugh and Rupert were fairly compelling here as well. Edward remains the worst and although clearly the author wants me to find Archie romantic, I one hundred percent do not.

2017 book 167

Elizabeth Jane Howard's Confusion
The problem with reading all these books in a row is that all the events become sort of muddled and it's hard for me to say anything specific about this particular volume. I am a bit worried that a 40-something dude is going to mack on a young girl who sees him as a father figure, but so far he is reining it in. I mean, this is basically a soap opera, but I find the women still very compelling--Howard does not shy away from unhappy marriages, horrific childbirth experiences, etc. I still love Polly and Clary and so will plow forward. B/B+.

2017 book 166

Elizabeth Jane Howard's Marking Time
The second book in the Cazalet Chronicles picks up a year after the last one ended--in 1939, on the verge of war. I meant to note in my last review that some of the characters express anti-Semitic views, but the author clearly thinks this is bad, so I was feeling quite pleased with Ms. Howard, when she drops the descriptor "n-word brown" into the text in this one. Describing a skirt! What on earth! So then I was reading with quite a bit of side-eye going on, especially when said description recurred. What on earth sort of way is that to describe a color in the 1990s?? As for the plot, there are a ton of characters, and I am more interested in some (Sybil, Zoe, Clary, Polly) than others (Louise trying to be an actress, her philandering father Edward). I find these books fairly engrossing, even when Howard isn't focusing on the things I wish she would. B/B+.

2017 book 165

Elizabeth Jane Howard's The Light Years
One of the Fug Girls mentioned the Cazelet Chronicles the other day, and the entire five book series--tracing a well off English family from the late 1930s to after WWII--was only 99 cents as an e-book, so I figured, why not try it? This first volume covers 1937 and 1938, and there are a lot of cousins to keep track of (I am positive that even the author got confused about the characters' relationships at one point), but it is all very riveting--affairs, secret lesbians, unexpected pregnancies, lumber mills, tree climbing, etc-- and only a tiny bit trashy. Content warning for a couple brief mentions of sexual abuse. Sidebar, apparently Howard's third husband was Kingsley Amis! I like her work better. A-.

2017 book 164

Naomi Alderman's Disobedience
After reading Alderman's The Power, I wanted to check out some of her earlier work--and then I read a review of a new movie starring Rachels Weisz and McAdams, based on a novel by Naomi Alderman, about the Orthodox Jewish community in London, and I was like, well, there you go. Anyway, the book is primarily about two women--one, Ronit, no longer observant, the daughter of a renowned Rav, who is returning home after his death; and the other, Esti, her SECRET TEENAGE GIRLFRIEND WHO IS NOW MARRIED TO RONIT'S COUSIN DOVID. Okay, also, I want to see this movie asap. Anyway, I have a lot of complicated thoughts and feelings about Orthodox Judaism, but I think Alderman paints a realistic yet sympathetic picture of this particular community (and also of someone who left it), and I loved all the characters and also how this wrapped up. Really excellent. A/A-.

2017 book 163

Seanan McGuire's The Brightest Fell
The most recent Toby Daye book finds Toby being forced to track down her long-lost sister, missing for over a century. I mean, that's basically it. It's more straightforward than some of the other books in this series, but once again it just feels like it is building up to some sort of epic series finale that I hope comes sooner rather than later. Not to say that this wasn't entertaining, because it was, but I want to know that this is really all going somewhere eventually. B/B+.

2017 book 162

Ruth Emmie Lang's Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance 
This was just a lovely and sweet and magical book, the sort of story you want to read in one sitting just because it is honestly delightful. It centers on a boy with mysterious powers, living with wolves, and his story is told through the people he encounters throughout his life. I liked this very much. A/A-.

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

2017 book 161

Claudia Gray's Leia: Princess of Alderaan
Gray's Star Wars books have been hit or miss for me (I loved Lost Stars, but thought Bloodline was a bit dull), but you had better believe I am here for a novel about teenage Leia dealing with princess duties, finding her first love, and getting involved in the Rebellion. Yesssssss. I especially enjoyed seeing a lot of Leia's mother-- Bail Organa has been a big prescence in the series, but I appreciated a Star Wars property looking at a mother-daughter relationship for a change. Plus the Luna Lovegood-esque friend was pretty great. So, yesssss. A-/B+.

2017 book 160

Ellen Raskin's The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues
Something I read recently reminded me of this book and made me want to reread it--obviously Raskin's The Westing Game is a masterpiece, but her other novels are good too, and underrated. This one involves an art student who goes to work for a painter with a houseful of secrets, and what happens when they begin to assist the police with weird crimes. Which all makes it sound slightly more serious than it actually is, when really it an interesting series of puzzles and compelling characters. I actually learned about a few artists and poets from reading this book as a kid, now that I think about it. Content warning for some ableist language bc it was written in 1975 (one of the characters has brain damage).

2017 book 159

Seanan McGuire's Once Broken Faith
The 10th Toby Daye book returns to the series' roots as Toby is tasked with solving a mystery--the murder of a King at a conclave of nobles, called to deal with stuff from the previous book. I don't have much else to say about it, though in general I found this one more entertaining than a lot of the previous volumes. B+.

2017 book 158

Seanan McGuire's A Red-Rose Chain
There's a new Toby Daye book out and it seemed kind of interesting, but I was told I have to go back and read the ones I skipped for it to make sense. So here I am, catching up on book 9. In this one, Toby and her entourage are sent as diplomats to try and stop a war between two fairy kingdoms, which goes about as well as everyone expects. I think I did like this better than some of its predecessors (despite the excessive exposition), or maybe a three year break is what I needed to refresh my interest in this series. B+.

2017 book 157

E. Lockhart's Genuine Fraud
I guess E. Lockhart is doing psychological suspense fiction now? Still, I liked it better than her last book. This reminded me of Patrice Kindl's most recent book, though it is not really funny in the way that one could be, or maybe Lockhart is going for a Patricia Highsmith kind of vibe. Anyway, it centers on a teenage girl juggling identities, and her best friend, and privileged lifestyles, and lies, etc, flashing back each chapter to show the whole scope of the thing. I thought the end was a little bit of a letdown but this was definitely entertaining. B+.

2017 book 156

Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes
This book came up in conversation recently--as well it should! We should all be talking about this book, always!--which of course made me want to reread it. I can't believe how well it holds up considering how very OF ITS TIME it is, but who would not be enchanted by the story of three very different little girls, adopted by an eccentric explorer and raised by his great-niece (and her nurse), who learn to make their ways in the world through the performing arts (and auto repair). Really interesting class issues to think about here, too. But mostly three awesome girls.

2017 book 155

Tessa Dare's The Duchess Deal

Dare's historical romances are hit or miss for me--they are always a ton of fun, but sometimes I wish there was more to the plot--and this was definitely one of those times. This one involves a Duke--badly scarred from the battle of Waterloo--proposing a marriage of convenience to a seamstress (a vicar's daughter who was caught canoodling with the local squire's son and then kicked out of her home and forced to make her own way in the world--which is about as much detail as Dare provides for this backstory). The Duke has a whole Beauty-and-the-Beast-meets-Batman thing which is fairly hilarious, and the new Duchess soon befriends a group of eccentric spinsters (who will presumably feature in later volumes of this series, but who are not well developed here). Anyway, like I said, this was fun, but there wasn't much meat to it. B+.

2017 book 154

Libba Bray's Beauty Queens
The kerfuffle over a couple of dude filmmakers wanting to do an all-girl remake of Lord of the Flies made me want to reread this book, one of my favorites of 2011. I was worried it wouldn't hold up, but it was as funny and feminist as ever, and honestly feels like an even more trenchant comment on our society now than it did six years ago. I will say that the language involving a trans character feels slightly dated, though on the whole the plot point is handled well. Bray pulls no punches here, and I love it.

2017 book 153

Sarah Beth Durst's The Reluctant Queen
I have been semi-eagerly awaiting the second book in Durst's Queens of Renthia series (after The Queen of Blood), which is odd because I only sort of liked the first one! (I blame my anticipation on waiting for the library to order it, and then waiting for the person who checked it out before me to relinquish it when their three-week hold period was up.) So, did it satisfy me after I waited almost two months for it? More or less! It takes a while to get going--overwrought writing, the queen needs an heir, blah di blah, but then it gets interesting when said heir is not a young girl trained for years, but a talented mother of two (with an awful husband) who just wants to live her life in peace. Some plot points were obvious, others surprised me, which means I am still very interested in reading the next one. B+.