A Court of Silver Flames does not disappoint and fits perfectly with the story and characters the author developed previously. Nesta and Cassian's story is filled with emotional tension, ethical dilemma, and steamy romance. With masterful narration and action, this book is a fun read and impossible to put down.
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
A Court of Silver Flames
A Court of Silver Flames does not disappoint and fits perfectly with the story and characters the author developed previously. Nesta and Cassian's story is filled with emotional tension, ethical dilemma, and steamy romance. With masterful narration and action, this book is a fun read and impossible to put down.
Monday, March 1, 2021
The Best-Laid Plans
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Knitting the Galaxy
How to Stop Time
By Matt Haig
Penguin Group, 2019. 352 pgs. Sci-Fi
Tom Hazard looks like an ordinary 41-year-old man, but due to a rare genetic condition, he's actually over 400 years old. He has recently moved back to London to begin teaching history, but London hides memories around every corner, some centuries old. Tom keeps his condition a secret, which isolates him from everyone except the Albatross Society, a small and secretive group of people who, like Tom, age slowly over centuries. The Society has one rule: never fall in love, as forming attachments leads to trouble. But for the first time in centuries, Tom is captivated by a woman, the school's French teacher. The only way to keep her safe is to stay away from her, but Tom is finding that more and more difficult.
This book bridges the gaps between several literary genres: science fiction, romance, and historical fiction. Tom's present-day story is interspersed with glimpses of his life through the centuries. Some cameos from famous historical figures enliven the text, but the observations about the changes in society over time and the nature of time itself offered some of the most interesting moments of the book.
BHG
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Pan’s Labyrinth
Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun
By Guillermo del Toro and Cornelia Funke
Katherine Tegen Books, 2019. 256 pages. Young Adult
Ofelia and her pregnant mother go to live with her new stepfather in a remote forest in Spain, where he is trying to flush out a group of rebels. Upon arrival, Ofelia discovers there are various magical beings in the area, and finds the entrance to a nearby labyrinth. Her arrival awakens a faun who has been searching for the lost Princess Moanna, the daughter of the king of the underworld. He believes Ofelia is the princess, and has her engage in a series of tests to prove her identity. All the while, Ofelia’s mother becomes increasingly sick, and her stepfather shows himself to be an uncaring and harsh man. Ofelia’s only hope to get away from the chaos of her surroundings is to prove her identity and claim her rightful place on the throne.
This is the novelization of Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 film, Pan’s Labyrinth. It’s been several years since I’ve seen the film, but it felt like the novel followed it quite faithfully. That said, it provided a somewhat different experience being directly inside of Ofelia’s head, such as when she justified the eating of food in the lair of the Pale Man. The world building is fantastic, layering fantasy on history, and the reimagining of fairy tales. There are a lot of layers that can be explored and considered, which is why, despite the fact that I had to take breaks because it was so emotionally visceral, I really liked it. If you like dark-fantasy/horror, this is definitely one to pick up, especially if you’d prefer to get the story without watching the movie.
ACS
Monday, February 8, 2021
As Old as Time
As Old as Time
Friday, February 5, 2021
The Vanishing Half
Such a Fun Age
Thursday, February 4, 2021
The Shadows Between Us
ME
Tweet Cute
by Emma Lord
Wednesday Books, 2020. 361 pages. Young Adult Fiction
This book is just what it looks like, a warm and fuzzy teenage romantic comedy with just enough parental and school drama to keep it from being too frothy. The writing is witty, the action is fast paced, and the laughs are many. In fact, you might want to be careful where you are reading this book, because I guarantee you will belly laugh several times. This is Lord’s debut and I foresee it becoming a classic in the genre. Her second novel, You Have a Match, just came out and I am super excited to read it.
AGP
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power
Monday, February 1, 2021
Hench
by Natalie Zina Walschots
William Morrow, 2020. 403 pages. Science Fiction.
Anna has a boring job in an exciting industry. She's a data analyst by trade, but she uses that skill set as a hench. In other words, she works as a data scientist for supervillains. After receiving a traumatic injury from a superhero trying to stop her supervillain boss, Anna discovers that by the numbers, superheroes cause more loss of life than even natural disasters. Using her skills, and with the resources of a mysterious supervillain named Leviathan, Anna proves that you don't need superpowers to stand up to those in power. All you need is some clever math, a little social engineering, a well-designed spreadsheet, and a passion (or hatred) strong enough to overcome any obstacle that might get in your way.
Hench is a very clever take on the superhero/supervillain genre of stories. Much in the vein of Marissa Meyer's Renegades or Victoria Schwab's Vicious, Walschots uses the traditional black and white fight between good and evil represented in most superhero media projects, throws it into a bucket of grey, and then uses the result to present an interesting commentary on the adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely." For those looking for superhero stories that go against the grain found in the MCU and DCEU, this book is exactly what you're looking for.
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Year of Yes
Friday, January 22, 2021
Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
You Are Not So Smart
By David McRaney
Gotham Books, 2011. 302 pages. Nonfiction
McRaney uses studies and research to illustrate ways that we as humans can be not so smart sometimes. There are a great many logical fallacies and failures of reasoning pointed out here, all things that even the best of us fall victim to from time to time. This is an interesting study of human behavior and a humorous ego check to boot. Recommended for fans of popular science and humor.
BHG
Blood Countess
The Weight of Ink
by Rachel Kadish
When a soon-to-be-retired university professor in London is called to assess a hidden cache of ancient papers, she begins a search to discover the identity of the scribe known only as "Aleph." Blending history and fiction seamlessly between London of the 1660s and the 21st century, the quest to discover who wrote the letters is interspersed with desire and the struggle of mortality across centuries.
The writing is truly phenomenal, which made the frequent switching between voices and time-periods easy to follow without feeling like anything was added just for fluff. All the story and mystery does a lovely job illustrating the struggle of humanizing history, especially when confronted with the distance of time. Contemplative, with a balance between introspective moments and an emotionally driven story, The Weight of Ink builds soul-searching moments into a depth that stayed well after reading the last page.
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Anxious People
A bank robber’s escape plan is foiled when he takes the wrong door out of the building, and ends up accidentally holding eight strangers hostage. But when the police finally enter the building, the bank robber has vanished, leaving only a bloodstain on the floor. As the police interview the hostages to get leads on the bank robber’s whereabouts, they become more and more frustrated. It’s hard to figure out what happened when the only witnesses are eight anxious people who had a hard day.
Fredrik Backman excels at writing stories that are a bit quirky, but that also hit right at the core of common human worries and anxieties. Although all of the characters in this story are more over-the-top than those featured in Backman’s other books, they all have moments when their true fears and desires are revealed. Personally, I loved this mixture of absurdity and heart, and found myself laughing aloud one minute, then sighing in sympathy the next.
This story is mostly told in non-sequential order, which allows the reader to get a better idea of each character's background story, but also keeps the reader, along with the police, in the dark as to what actually happened until the very end. Because of this, the plot takes some interesting and unexpected turns, which ends to a satisfying conclusion for everyone.
MB
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Displacement
Monday, January 11, 2021
Ready Player Two
by Ernest Cline
Ballantine Books, 2020. 377 pages. Fiction
Wade Watts won the greatest video game ever created. For a
few days, he has time to bask in the glory of his hard-earned wealth and fame.
But then a new piece of technology is discovered in the vaults of Gregarious
Games Inc. that could once again change life as he knows it. This new tech is
wildly popular, but also puts people at the mercy of virtual reality. Almost
immediately a new adversary takes over the Oasis and Wade is once again called
upon to save humanity.
This is a fun sequel to the super popular Ready Player One. There are new bad guys to outsmart, new clues to find and decipher, and a whole new world to explore. It is interesting to see how the top four, Wade, Ache, Art3mis, and Shoto all respond to having wealth beyond reasoning. Art3mis, Samantha, is still determined to help the troubled world outside the Oasis. Shoto and Ache become interested in the business side of Gregarious Games, but Wade is kind of lost. He alienates those most important to him and must learn how to deal with people in real life, not just in virtual reality. There is enough new content about the characters that this book is worth the read, but fans of Cline may feel like they have been through this all before. This book will appeal to those searching for a book with adventure, interpersonal relationships, and mind-bending views of reality.
AGPSaturday, January 9, 2021
Rebecca
Rebecca
How to Hang a Witch
ME
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Scars Like Wings
By Erin Stewart
Delacorte Press, 2019. 376 pages. Young Adult
Sixteen-year-old Ava is left severely disfigured after a house fire claims the lives of her parents and cousin. Now she lives with her aunt and uncle, and after a lot of counseling and trips to the burn unit, her aunt and uncle decide it’s time for Ava to return to high school, to try and regain some semblance of “normal.” Except, Ava knows there will never be a return to normal, not with how she looks. She agrees to give it a week, and in that time Ava meets Piper, a fellow survivor. Together, they work through the trauma—both physical and emotional—that both sets them apart and brings them together.
There is a lot of emotion packed into this book. It clearly evokes the fears, hopes, and awkwardness that are pretty relatable to most people who have been through high school. The characters are well developed, with their own stories to cope with and grow from. Ava’s journey, from a popular and talented musical theater star to a burn survivor hiding from the world, is raw and thought-provoking. Often, we have a warped view of ourselves, and this is especially true for Ava. I found her story incredibly moving, and would easily recommend this for those who feel like they struggle to fit in, and those learning to cope with loss.
ACS
Saturday, January 2, 2021
The Blade Itself
The Blade Itself
by Joe Ambercrombie
Orbit, 2015. 542 pages. Fantasy.
Magic is leeching from the world, or so Ambercrombie writes as he introduces us to a new fantasy world where no one can be trusted and nothing is what you'd expect. The Union, a kingdom where everyone is born into their place in the world with nobles and commoners and merchants, becomes embroiled in a war with the Gurkals of the South and King Bethod in the North. All the while, conflict with an ancient evil millennia in the making is just about to get started. Without magic or a true understanding of history, the main 3 characters of the book find that they must face an evil few men understand, or war will be the least of the worlds problems. The Blade Itself follows 3 major characters and the story of how they get roped into the fight to save the world. Logan Nine-Fingers, a barbarian from the north whose bloody history defined the shaping of a kingdom, escapes a supernatural evil in order to answer the call of world's oldest (and literally the first) Magi. Captain Jezal dan Luthar, a selfish, self-absorbed nobleman, who's constantly forced into situations he would rather avoid by people who are far smarter than him. And Inquisitor San dan Glokta, a man who survived being tortured about a mile past the edge of his life and who now tortures others in service to his king.
The Blade Itself brings together political intrigue, the corruption of governments and history, and the classic gathering of heroes to fight the storm of an ancient evil, and does so without providing us any hope that things will get better. That might sound like a bad thing, but Ambercrombie does such a good job of making us root for morally grey characters that despite a future outlook that appears grim and dark, we want to watch these characters go through the process of trying to save the world. For those that like classic fantasy by David Eddings or Terry Brooks, but want a darker world where any character that is "good" must compromise their definition of "good" to survive (à la A Song of Ice and Fire) this book (and this trilogy) is for you.
Thursday, December 31, 2020
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
All Hearts Come Home for Christmas
All Hearts Come Home For Christmas
By Sarah Eden, Anita Stansfield, Esther Hatch & Joanna Barker
Covenant Communications, 2019. 290 pgs. Romance
This is a wonderful collection of Regency Christmas short stories. I'll be honest that the only reason I picked this up is because Sarah Eden is one of my favorite authors and I noticed she had a short story in this collection. I loved that her story returned to Falstone Castle and the Lancaster family. I liked getting a brief but deeper look into their family. I was pleasantly surprised by "Tis the Season to be Daring" by Esther Hatch. I loved this story. The main characters had such great banter, the plot was fun and unique, and I enjoyed it so much.
This collection of short stories was perfect for the Christmas season. The stories were long enough to get to know the characters but short enough that I could fit them into my crazy Christmas schedule. This would be great for anyone looking for a collection of feel good Christmas romance. The best thing is that they can be read any time of the year.
AL
We Are Not Free
We Are Not Free
By Traci Chee
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. 384 pages. Young Adult
Fourteen Japanese-American teens who grew up in Japantown, San Francisco, have their lives dramatically changed shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They’re imprisoned in relocation camps, and while some look for hope and opportunities, everyone struggles with the discouragement, racism, and abuse that now permeates their lives. Some teens will be released, some will go to war, and yet others will be imprisoned until the camps are closed. Despite everything, these 14 friends must rally together when everything else threatens to pull them apart.
This was an incredibly moving book, made all the more impactful because of the 14 distinct backstories and personalities. It’s a stark reminder that people in similar circumstances can have vastly different reactions to those circumstances. This book is just as much about the setting as it is the people. A portion is based here in Utah, around the Topaz War Relocation Center. While I haven’t been to the site myself, now a museum, the evocative detail will color any future visits I might make.
There’s a lot of great WWII fiction available, but this one stands out among the rest. Recommended for anyone who appreciated Samira Ahmed’s INTERNMENT, or George Takei’s THEY CALLED US ENEMY.
ACS
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
A Promised Land
By Barack Obama
Crown, 2020. 751 pages. Biography
Is This Anything?
by Jerry Seinfeld
Simon & Schuster, 2020. 470 pages. Nonfiction
Seinfeld has collected his material from many decades in comedy and published them here for you to enjoy. Chronologically arranged, the "bits" are prefaced by some details of what was happening in his life at the time, and how that colored his work. If you are familiar with his early material, you will find it repeated here, but his newer material is a fun reflection of modern living.
I have always enjoyed Seinfeld's comedy, and this audiobook, read by the author, didn't disappoint. I laughed out loud several times as I listened. This might be a good antidote to any blues you might have this winter.
BHG