A Beautiful Place to Die
Award-winning screenwriter Malla Nunn delivers a stunning and darkly romantic crime novel set in 1950s apartheid South Africa, featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper — a man caught up in a time and place where racial tensions and the raw hunger for power make life very dangerous indeed. In a morally complex tale rich with authenticity, Nunn takes readers to Jacob’s Rest, a tiny town on the border between South Africa and Mozambique. It is 1952, and new apartheid laws have recently gone into effect, dividing a nation into black and white while supposedly healing the political rifts between the Afrikaners and the English. Tensions simmer as the fault line between the oppressed and the oppressors cuts deeper, but it’s not until an Afrikaner police officer is found dead that emotions more dangerous than anyone thought possible boil to the surface.
When Detective Emmanuel Cooper, an Englishman, begins investigating the murder, his mission is preempted by the powerful police Security Branch, who are dedicated to their campaign to flush out black communist radicals. But Detective Cooper isn’t interested in political expediency and has never been one for making friends. He may be modest, but he radiates intelligence and certainly won’t be getting on his knees before those in power. Instead, he strikes out on his own, following a trail of clues that lead him to uncover a shocking forbidden love and the imperfect life of Captain Pretorius, a man whose relationships with the black and coloured residents of the town he ruled were more complicated and more human than anyone could have imagined.
Goodreads.com
Mind your triggers–this book is filled with violence, sexual content, and racism. Emmanuel is a police detective in newly apartheid (1950s) South Africa, investigating the murder of an Afrikaner police officer in a small town. The book illustrates the effects of apartheid on white, black, and “colored” (what Americans would call biracial) citizens, as well as the role of religion and the fear of Communism played in the apartheid system. I found the history fascinating, but because of the content, it was a challenging read.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
The Miniaturist
On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office–leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.
But Nella’s world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist–an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways . . .
Johannes’ gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand–and fear–the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation . . . or the architect of their destruction?
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This book was slow to grab my attention, but once it did, I couldn’t put it down. Nella, her sister in law Marin, the impertinent maid Cornelia, her distant new husband Johannes, and the secrets that threaten to consume the house are all reflected in the miniatures that the mysterious miniaturist sends Nella to decorate her cabinet house. This novel is dark and yet has a strange optimism as Nella learns her power in 1600s Amsterdam.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
The Family Plot
At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse has a lot to learn when it comes to the real world. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she has spent the last several years living on her own, but unable to move beyond her past—especially the disappearance of her twin brother Andy when they were sixteen.
With her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the house she has avoided for years. But as the rest of the Lighthouse family arrives for the memorial, a gruesome discovery is made: buried in the reserved plot is another body—Andy’s, his skull split open with an ax.
Each member of the family handles the revelation in unusual ways. Her brother Charlie pours his energy into creating a family memorial museum, highlighting their research into the lives of famous murder victims; her sister Tate forges ahead with her popular dioramas portraying crime scenes; and their mother affects a cheerfully domestic façade, becoming unrecognizable as the woman who performed murder reenactments for her children. As Dahlia grapples with her own grief and horror, she realizes that her eccentric family, and the mansion itself, may hold the answers to what happened to her twin.
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This is a thriller about a messed up family and the secrets that the main character slowly discovers from her own past. I found this unrealistic but definitely kept me wanting to know more. It wasn’t my favorite of Megan Collins’s thrillers, but it was fun.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Project Hail Mary
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.
Or does he?
Goodreads.com
Dr. Grace wakes up with no idea who he is, where he is, or what world saving interstellar space mission he has been sent to do. This sci fi novel from the author of The Martian starts out with a higher level of science than I’m capable of understanding, but as the book goes on, I became invested in Ryland and his **spoiler alert** newly found alien friend, Rocky. As he races against time and the harsh environment of space, there are some truly terrifying moments, mixed in with sweet successes and the gradually revealed backstory of the astrophage.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
La Bastarda
The first novel by an Equatorial Guinean woman to be translated into English, La Bastarda is the story of the orphaned teen Okomo, who lives under the watchful eye of her grandmother and dreams of finding her father. Forbidden from seeking him out, she enlists the help of other village outcasts: her gay uncle and a gang of “mysterious” girls reveling in their so-called indecency. Drawn into their illicit trysts, Okomo finds herself falling in love with their leader and rebelling against the rigid norms of Fang culture.
Amazon.com
A short novel about an Equatorial Guinean young woman growing up with her polygamous grandparents without knowing her father or her dead mother as she begins to explore her sexuality, even though this is strictly forbidden by her family. Surprisingly, this book has *spoiler alert* a happy ending. I read this for my reading around the world project, and although I didn’t mind reading it, I don’t remember much about it at all.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
The Testaments
When the van door slammed on Offred’s future at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her–freedom, prison or death.
With The Testaments, the wait is over.
Margaret Atwood’s sequel picks up the story more than fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead.
In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades.
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Although I found this story about the origins of Gilead to be rather unrealistic and therefore not as scary as the original, the torture of women, the ruthlessness of some of those same women, and the story of the two girls who must fight to save themselves and bring down the regime kept me engaged until the last page. It’s not as good as the original book, but it’s satisfying in its own way as a more action packed, less introspective novel.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
The First Prehistoric Serial Killer and Other Stories
An impressive and very funny collection of stories by Teresa Solana but the fun is very dark indeed. The oddest things happen. Statues decompose and stink out galleries, two old grandmothers are vengeful killers, a prehistoric detective on the verge of becoming the first religious charlatan trails a triple murder that is threatening cave life as the early innocents knew it. The collection also includes a sparkling web of Barcelona stories–connected by two criminal acts–that allows Solana to explore the darker side of different parts of the city and their seedier inhabitants.
Goodreads.com
Short story mysteries that are sometimes gruesome but always humorous or clever. Many of the stories are connected in some way as the characters make their way around Barcelona. This is a book I read for my reading around the world project, and it’s one that I never would have come across were it not for that project. I’m glad I read it!
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Case Histories
The first book in Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie Mysteries series, called “The best mystery of the decade” by Stephen King, finds private investigator Jackson Brodie following three seemingly unconnected family mysteries in Edinburg.
Case one: A little girl goes missing in the night.
Case two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac’s apparently random attack.
Case three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making – with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband – until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.
Thirty years after the first incident, as private investigator Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge . . .
Amazon.com
This book consists of three intertwined cold cases that Jackson Brodie solves, despite his family problems. It didn’t have the usual feel of a mystery novel–it’s brighter and more observant of family relationships. Kate Atkinson is, as always, a fabulous writer, but I’m not sure I feel the need to pick up the rest of the series.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Stealing from Wizards
Living in secret and stealing to eat is a hard life, but it’s all Kuro has ever known. Fear and necessity forged him into the finest young thief in in the wizard kingdoms. Nobody can hide forever, though, and a run of poor luck lands Kuro in a place where his quick hands and quiet feet count for nothing: Avalon Academy, school of magic.
Out of his depth and unable to escape, can Kuro find a place among the other misfits at the school, or will his past return to ruin the one chance he has to leave his life in the shadows?
Goodreads.com
This is a fun, magical school story about Kuro, the abused servant of an evil wizard, finding friendship and growth with fellow misfits Charlie, Marie, and Arthur. Despite Kuro’s sad story, the book overall has a fun and lighthearted feeling, and I can’t wait to read the sequel.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Zoo City
Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty 419 scam habit and a talent for finding lost things. But when a little old lady turns up dead and the cops confiscate her last paycheck, she’s forced to take on her least favourite kind of job – missing persons.
Being hired by reclusive music producer Odi Huron to find a teenybop pop star should be her ticket out of Zoo City, the festering slum where the criminal underclass and their animal companions live in the shadow of hell’s undertow.
Instead, it catapults Zinzi deeper into the maw of a city twisted by crime and magic, where she’ll be forced to confront the dark secrets of former lives – including her own.
Goodreads.com
All the content warnings–sex, rape, drug and alcohol abuse, murder, violence, and more. Zoo City is set in an alternate universe South Africa in which those who have committed major crimes are assigned magical animal companions that can never leave them. Zinzi is a private detective as well as a scammer and former addict with a Sloth companion, and she gets dragged into a missing persons case that puts her in even more danger than usual. It’s a noir/urban fantasy book that will keep you reading until the end. I’m not huge into either genre, but I did enjoy this book.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
The Thursday Murder Club
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.
But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.
Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?
Goodreads.com
What a wonderful, funny, bittersweet, and altogether enjoyable mystery. It stars four retirees in a village in the Cotswolds who reveal many secrets in their hunt for the murderer. It was the perfect type of book for me, and I’ve enjoyed all the sequels so far.
Rating: Re-read Worthy
The Darkness Knows
A frozen body is discovered in the icy depths of Langjökull glacier, apparently that of a businessman who disappeared thirty years before. At the time, an extensive search and police investigation yielded no results―one of the missing man’s business associates was briefly held in custody, but there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him.
Now the associate is arrested again and Konrad, the retired policeman who originally investigated the disappearance, is called back to reopen the case that has weighed on his mind for decades.
When a woman approaches him with new information that she obtained from her deceased brother, progress can finally be made in solving this long-cold case.
In The Darkness Knows , the master of Icelandic crime writing reunites readers with Konrad, the unforgettable retired detective from The Shadow District . This is a powerful and haunting story about the poisonous secrets and cruel truths that time eventually uncovers.
Goodreads.com
I enjoyed the mystery in this novel–it’s nothing too gory or intense–but it wasn’t anything special. I will not be seeking out any of the other installments in this Icelandic noir series.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts
Tuesday Mooney is a loner. She keeps to herself, begrudgingly socializes, and spends much of her time watching old Twin Peaks and X-Files DVDs. But when Vincent Pryce, Boston’s most eccentric billionaire, dies—leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city, with clues inspired by his hero, Edgar Allan Poe—Tuesday’s adventure finally begins.
Puzzle-loving Tuesday searches for clue after clue, joined by a ragtag crew: a wisecracking friend, an adoring teen neighbor, and a handsome, cagey young heir. The hunt tests their mettle, and with other teams from around the city also vying for the promised prize—a share of Pryce’s immense wealth—they must move quickly. Pryce’s clues can’t be cracked with sharp wit alone; the searchers must summon the courage to face painful ghosts from their pasts (some more vivid than others) and discover their most guarded desires and dreams.
Goodreads.com
This was billed as an adult version of The Westing Game, which caught my interest immediately. I enjoyed the mystery, but I found Tuesday’s flaws and mistakes difficult to overcome, and I wished some of the side characters had had more page time. Ultimately, it wasn’t nearly as good as I wanted it to be.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
War and Peace
In Russia’s struggle with Napoleon, Tolstoy saw a tragedy that involved all mankind.
War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men.
As Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy brilliantly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.
Goodreads.com
As usual with Tolstoy, I enjoyed the characters and their relationships but got annoyed by Tolstoy’s continual asides about the causes of history and the nature of free will. I have a hard time caring about the Napoleonic war, which was a real impediment to enjoying the story. Still, I’m glad I read it, and I understand why it is a beloved classic around the world.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
The Woman in the Blue Cloak
Early on a May morning in the depth of South Africa’s winter, a woman’s naked body, washed in bleach, is discovered on a stone wall beside the N2 highway at the top of Sir Lowry’s Pass, some thirty-five miles from Cape Town. The local investigation stalls, so the case is referred to Captain Benny Griessel and his colorful partner Vaughn Cupido of the Hawks―the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations. The woman proves to be Alicia Lewis, an expert in old Dutch Masters paintings specializing in the recovery of valuable lost art. Discovering the two men she had contacted before coming to South Africa reveals what she was seeking―a rare painting by Carel Fabritius, Rembrandt’s finest student, not seen since it disappeared from Delft in 1654. But how Lewis died, why, and at whose hand shocks even the two veteran detectives. The Woman in the Blue Cloak is a compact jewel of a thriller, filled with Deon Meyer’s earthy dialogue, clever plotting, and the memorable characters that have peopled all of Deon Meyer’s award-winning novels.
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I somehow got my hands on the sixth book in this South African sunshine noir series, but this didn’t impede me too much from enjoying the book. I do wish it had been longer–170 pages didn’t leave a lot of space for building suspense.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
The Maid
Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.
But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?
A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.
Goodreads.com
Molly has a hard time understanding the intentions of others, which leads her to become a suspect in a murder when she finds the body of a guest in one of the rooms she is cleaning. Molly must figure out who her true friends are and try to capture the real culprits. Although this is billed as a cozy mystery, there were a couple of twists that really took me by surprise. It was a fun, unusual mystery with great characters.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Mrs. Dalloway
Heralded as Virginia Woolf’s greatest novel, this is a vivid portrait of a single day in a woman’s life. When we meet her, Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway is preoccupied with the last-minute details of party preparation while in her mind she is something much more than a perfect society hostess. As she readies her house, she is flooded with remembrances of faraway times. And, met with the realities of the present, Clarissa reexamines the choices that brought her there, hesitantly looking ahead to the unfamiliar work of growing old.
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Woolf’s writing is gorgeous, and her novel (which spans a single day) is filled with sympathetic characters, helped along by her narrative style which allows us to see their stream of consciousness at key moments. As often happens when I read a classic novel with little context, I feel like I am missing some important points and will probably follow up my read with a quick look at Sparknotes. Still, even without catching all the nuances, there is a lot to enjoy here.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Moccasin Square Gardens
The characters of Moccasin Square Gardens inhabit Denendeh, the land of the people north of the sixtieth parallel. These stories are filled with in-laws, outlaws and common-laws. Get ready for illegal wrestling moves (“The Camel Clutch”), pinky promises, a doctored casino, extraterrestrials or “Sky People,” love, lust and prayers for peace. While this is Van Camp’s most hilarious short story collection, it’s also haunted by the lurking presence of the Wheetago, human-devouring monsters of legend that have returned due to global warming and the greed of humanity. The stories in Moccasin Square Gardens show that medicine power always comes with a price. To counteract this darkness, Van Camp weaves a funny and loving portrayal of the Tłı̨chǫ Dene and other communities of the North, drawing from oral history techniques to perfectly capture the character and texture of everyday small-town life. “Moccasin Square Gardens” is the nickname of a dance hall in the town of Fort Smith that serves as a meeting place for a small but diverse community. In the same way, the collection functions as a meeting place for an assortment of characters, from shamans and time-travelling goddess warriors to pop-culture-obsessed pencil pushers, to con artists, archivists and men who just need to grow up, all seeking some form of connection.
Goodreads.com
These short stories (by and about Indigenous people) were funny and touching. Each character’s voice is distinct and unique, and the stories give a real sense of place. I don’t usually enjoy short story collections, but this one really caught and kept my interest.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Howards End
Howards End is a novel by E. M. Forster about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. A strong-willed and intelligent woman refuses to allow the pretensions of her husband’s smug English family to ruin her life. Howards End is considered by some to be Forster’s masterpiece.
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E.M. Forster stocks his novel with well written, sympathetic characters even as they make choices very different from those I would have made. This kept me engaged throughout all the drama of the characters’ lives.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Spy x Family
Master spy Twilight is the best at what he does when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions in the name of a better world. But when he receives the ultimate impossible assignment—get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head!
Not one to depend on others, Twilight has his work cut out for him procuring both a wife and a child for his mission to infiltrate an elite private school. What he doesn’t know is that the wife he’s chosen is an assassin and the child he’s adopted is a telepath!
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This funny and heartwarming manga sucked me in. I love the idea that none of the characters (other than maybe the daughter, Anya) know the full story about their ad hoc family. I read almost no other manga, but I’m obsessed with this series, and I’m waiting impatiently for the latest installment to be translated into English.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Recipes for Love
Meet Tannie Maria: A woman who likes to cook a lot and write a little. Tannie Maria writes recipes for a column in her local paper, the Klein Karoo Gazette.
One Sunday morning, as Maria savours the breeze through the kitchen window whilst making apricot jam, she hears the screech and bump that announces the arrival of her good friend and editor Harriet. What Maria doesn’t realise is that Harriet is about to deliver the first ingredient in two new recipes (recipes for love and murder) and a whole basketful of challenges.
A delicious blend of intrigue, milk tart and friendship, join Tannie Maria in her first investigation. Consider your appetite whetted for a whole new series of mysteries . . .
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What a sweet mystery, with wonderful relationships and a great South African setting. I loved it, even though the solution to the mystery was a bit far fetched (and, on a more serious note, domestic violence was only marginally addressed before it faded into the background). Tannie Maria, her workmates Hattie and Jessie, and the attractive police officer Kannemeyer are such great, likable characters. I’ve since read the second in the series and really enjoyed that as well.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
O Pioneers!
O Pioneers! (1913) was Willa Cather’s first great novel, and to many it remains her unchallenged masterpiece. No other work of fiction so faithfully conveys both the sharp physical realities and the mythic sweep of the transformation of the American frontier—and the transformation of the people who settled it. Cather’s heroine is Alexandra Bergson, who arrives on the wind-blasted prairie of Hanover, Nebraska, as a girl and grows up to make it a prosperous farm. But this archetypal success story is darkened by loss, and Alexandra’s devotion to the land may come at the cost of love itself.
At once a sophisticated pastoral and a prototype for later feminist novels, O Pioneers! is a work in which triumph is inextricably enmeshed with tragedy, a story of people who do not claim a land so much as they submit to it and, in the process, become greater than they were.
Goodreads.com
Beautiful writing, great characters, and of course the setting of Nebraska which is close to my heart. Despite Goodreads calling this a “prototype for later feminist novels,” the ending felt slut-shamey by modern standards. Still, I really enjoyed this book, and it led me to read more of Willa Cather’s work.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
The Parable of the Sower
In this graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower by Damian Duffy and John Jennings, the award-winning team behind Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, the author portrays a searing vision of America’s future. In the year 2024, the country is marred by unattended environmental and economic crises that lead to social chaos. Lauren Olamina, a preacher’s daughter living in Los Angeles, is protected from danger by the walls of her gated community. However, in a night of fire and death, what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: a startling vision of human destiny . . . and the birth of a new faith.
Goodreads.com
This graphic novel adaptation of Octavia Butler’s classic was powerful, disturbing, and painful to read. I will likely read the sequel, but this type of dystopia that seems both hopeless and all too possible is not my usual jam.
Rating: Good but Painful
Murder at St Anne’s
Winter, snow, murder—and a centuries-dead suspect.
In the chilly depths of a Yorkshire winter, a well-liked rector is found bludgeoned to death in her own church. With no sign of a murder weapon, local superstition quickly pins the blame on the ghost of a medieval monk believed to haunt the building…
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A cozy mystery surrounding the mysterious murder of a female priest in a small English town. The detectives are warm and likable, and although the writing is not gorgeous, it does its job of keeping the reader engaged and invested until the end. Although this is an installment in a series (book #7, as it turns out), it was easy enough to dive into without having read any of the previous mysteries.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Night and Day
Katharine Hilbery is beautiful and privileged, but uncertain of her future. She must choose between becoming engaged to the oddly prosaic poet William Rodney, and her dangerous attraction to the passionate Ralph Denham. As she struggles to decide, the lives of two other women – women’s rights activist Mary Datchet and Katharine’s mother, Margaret, struggling to weave together the documents, events and memories of her own father’s life into a biography – impinge on hers with unexpected and intriguing consequences. Virginia Woolf’s delicate second novel is both a love story and a social comedy, yet it also subtly undermines these traditions, questioning a woman’s role and the very nature of experience.
Goodreads.com
I loved the beginning of the story, but I found Katharine more and more frustrating as we went on. Virginia Woolf’s writing is, of course, gorgeous, which made me keep going until the end, but this wasn’t my favorite of hers.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
One Last Stop
For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures.
But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train.
Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane doesn’t just look like an old school punk rocker. She’s literally displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help her. Maybe it’s time to start believing in some things, after all.
Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop is a magical, sexy, big-hearted romance where the impossible becomes possible as August does everything in her power to save the girl lost in time.
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A queer romance set in New York City that focuses on family (both biological and found), time travel (ish), and finding yourself. Sweet, funny, tear jerking, and fairly open door. I really enjoyed it, and I’m not a big romance fan.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Oona Out of Order
It’s New Year’s Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn nineteen, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens thirty-two years in the future in her fifty-one-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she’s told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random. And so begins Oona Out of Order…
Hopping through decades, pop culture fads, and much-needed stock tips, Oona is still a young woman on the inside but ever changing on the outside. Who will she be next year? Philanthropist? Club Kid? World traveler? Wife to a man she’s never met? Surprising, magical, and heart-wrenching, Margarita Montimore has crafted an unforgettable story about the burdens of time, the endurance of love, and the power of family.
Goodreads.com
A heart wrenching and fascinating story of Oona as she lives the years of her life out of order. Her mistakes are painful, but her joys are transcendent. I don’t remember many of the details, but I enjoyed the reading experience.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
The Cuckoo’s Calling
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.
Goodreads.com
I finally read J.K. Rowling’s first venture into mysteries. It wasn’t a bad mystery; I liked both Cormoran Strike and his receptionist Robin, and the solution was satisfying. However, I remember there being questionable use of terminology and ideas about race, adoption, etc., which kept me from truly enjoying the novel.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Nonna Maria and the Case of the Missing Bride
Nonna Maria has lived in Ischia, an island in the Gulf of Naples, her entire life. Recognizable by the widow’s black she’s worn every day for decades, she always has pasta on the stove and espresso in the pot for the neighbors who stop by to ask her advice on life and love. Everyone knows her, and she knows everyone’s business. So if something goes wrong, islanders look to her, and not the local carabinieri, to find the solution.
When a recently engaged woman confesses that she’s afraid her fiance might not be who he seems, Nonna Maria helps her disappear while she investigates the true nature of her betrothed, a stranger to Ischia with a murky past. The stranger has also raised the suspicions of Captain Murino of the carabinieri, but he’s occupied investigating the death of a tour boat captain who drowned in the wee hours of the morning. Captain Murino believes it’s an accident, but Nonna Maria knew the man was a born sailor, and too good a swimmer to drown, no matter how much wine he might have drunk. While Captain Murino has his hands full, she pours herself a glass of white wine and gets to work, even though getting involved will expose her to the dangers lurking just beneath the surface of her idyllic home.
Goodreads.com
A fun mystery with a great setting (the Italian island of Ischia). All the characters on this small island rely on Nonna Maria to help them solve their problems, and each side character is enjoyable as well. This is a mystery in the same vein as the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series–it’s more a reflection on the characters and the setting, with the mystery gently fading into the background.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Nonna Maria and the Case of the Stolen Necklace
Nonna Maria has a lot on her plate—and it’s not just fresh pasta. Two crimes have rocked the sun-drenched island of Ischia, and once again, the island’s denizens have called upon the espresso-brewing, sage counsel-giving sleuth.
A wealthy woman alleges a valuable necklace was stolen from her hotel room. The necklace, she claims, has been in her family for decades. She blames one of the young women working on the cleaning crew as the most likely suspect—a young woman who turns out to be Nonna Maria’s goddaughter. She takes the heat, but privately, she proclaims her innocence.
Nearby, the body of a woman found on a curved road near the borough of Barano. The woman is not known to anyone on the island. She has no purse, no identification. The one potential suspect is a young friend of Nonna Maria’s who drove by the area that very night and thinks that he may have hit something—a pothole; an animal; or maybe, the woman in question.
It turns out, this woman has a history on the island, having left it decades ago. But why did she return, and more importantly, why did she turn up dead? And what really happened to the missing necklace? Nonna Maria needs to find the answers.
Goodreads.com
Nonna Maria is back to solve more crimes being committed on her beloved island of Ischia. She is a great character, stubborn and fiercely caring, and of course the setting is filled with beautiful views and great food. Once again, we are given a gentle mystery in the style of Mma Ramotswe and her Botswanan detective agency.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
The Mill on the Floss
Brought up at Dorlcote Mill, Maggie Tulliver worships her brother Tom and is desperate to win the approval of her parents, but her passionate, wayward nature and her fierce intelligence bring her into constant conflict with her family. As she reaches adulthood, the clash between their expectations and her desires is painfully played out as she finds herself torn between her relationships with three very different men: her proud and stubborn brother, a close friend who is also the son of her family’s worst enemy, and a charismatic but dangerous suitor. With its poignant portrayal of sibling relationships, The Mill on the Floss is considered George Eliot’s most autobiographical novel; it is also one of her most powerful and moving.
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Although I have really enjoyed George Eliot’s other works, I hated how all the characters in this story treated Maggie, despite her best efforts to have a noble character. I truly hated the ending as well. Sorry, George Eliot fans!
Rating: Meh
All Dressed Up
The weekend getaway at the gorgeous manor hotel should have been perfect. But Becca is freshly smarting from her husband Blake’s betrayal and knows this is just an expensive attempt at an apology. She may not be ready to forgive him, but the drinks are strong, the estate is stunning, and the weekend has an elaborate 1920s murder mystery theme. She decides to get into the spirit of things and enjoy their stay. What could go wrong?
Before long, the game is afoot: famed speakeasy songstress Ida Crooner is found “murdered,” and it’s up to the guests to sniff out which of them might be the culprit. Playing the role of Miss Debbie Taunte, an ingenue with a dark past, Becca dives into the world of pun-heavy clues, hammy acting, and secret passages, hoping to at least take her mind off her marital troubles.
Then, the morning after they arrive, the actress playing Ida’s maid fails to reappear for her role. The game’s organizer–that’s Miss Ann Thrope to you–assumes the young woman’s flakiness is to blame, but when snooping for clues as “Debbie,” Becca finds evidence she may not have left of her own free will.
Goodreads.com
This book had a great setting–a Roaring Twenties Murder mystery weekend that (of course) turns out to have a real murder. Becca and her husband Blake go on this weekend retreat in order to patch up their broken marriage, but Becca’s stress and grief causes her to see clues everywhere, and soon she can’t pick apart what’s part of the game and what is all too real. The solution to this mystery felt a bit over the top, but I enjoyed it well enough anyway.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
The House in the Cerulean Sea
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.
When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.
But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.
An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.
Goodreads.com
Sweet, magical, and touching. Although the plot often feels like a thinly veiled metaphor for homophobia, it still works. Each of the children–and adults–are unique, memorable, and lovable. This was my first T.J. Klune novel, and since then I’ve started reading through his backlist and loving it.
Rating: Re-read Worthy
Upright Women Wanted
Esther is a stowaway. She’s hidden herself away in the Librarian’s book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her—a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda.
The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing. They’ll bring the fight to you.
In Upright Women Wanted, award-winning author Sarah Gailey reinvents the pulp Western with an explicitly antifascist, near-future story of queer identity.
Goodreads.com
A Wild West outlaw story, but starring queer Librarians. Short and ultimately hopeful. I really enjoyed it.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
The Cartographers
What is the purpose of a map?
Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.
But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence… because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way.
But why?
To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps…
From the critically acclaimed author of The Book of M, a highly imaginative thriller about a young woman who discovers that a strange map in her deceased father’s belongings holds an incredible, deadly secret—one that will lead her on an extraordinary adventure and to the truth about her family’s dark history.
Goodreads.com
This novel is filled with complex friendships, maps, mystery, and a bit of magic. It reminded me of Tana French’s The Likeness in a way. It felt like a mystery that was written for me–I truly loved it.
Rating: Re-read Worthy
Dead and Gondola
Ellie Christie is thrilled to begin a new chapter. She’s recently returned to her tiny Colorado hometown to run her family’s historic bookshop with her elder sister, Meg, and their friendly bookshop cat, Agatha. Perched in a Swiss-style hamlet accessible by ski gondola and a twisty mountain road, the Book Chalet is a famed bibliophile destination known for its maze of shelves and relaxing reading lounge with cozy fireside seats and panoramic views. At least, until trouble blows in with a wintery whiteout. A man is found dead on the gondola, and a rockslide throws the town into lockdown—no one in, no one out.
He was a mysterious stranger who visited the bookshop. At the time, his only blunders were disrupting a book club and leaving behind a first-edition Agatha Christie novel, written under a pseudonym. However, once revealed, the man’s identity shocks the town. Many residents knew of him. Quite a few had reason to want him dead. Others hide secrets. The police gather suspects, but when they narrow in on the sisters’ close friends, the Christies have to act.
Although the only Agatha in their family tree is their cat, Ellie and Meg know a lot about mysteries, and they’re not about to let the situation snowball out of control. The Christie sisters must summon their inner Miss Marples and trek through a blizzard of clues before the killer turns the page to their final chapter.
Goodreads.com
A fun, well written cozy mystery set in Last Word, Colorado at a gorgeous bookshop in the mountains. I would love to read another installment in this series. I found the characters and the setting really enjoyable, and the mystery was satisfying.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
The Blue Castle
Valancy Stirling is 29, unmarried, and has never been in love. Living with her overbearing mother and meddlesome aunt, she finds her only consolation in the “forbidden” books of John Foster and her daydreams of the Blue Castle–a place where all her dreams come true and she can be who she truly wants to be. After getting shocking news from the doctor, she rebels against her family and discovers a surprising new world, full of love and adventures far beyond her most secret dreams.
Goodreads.com
What a sweet romance by the author of Anne of Green Gables! It took me by surprise how much I enjoyed it. After Valancy’s mistreatment by her family, watching her life blossom was so satisfying.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Cranford
Cranford depicts the lives and preoccupations of the inhabitants of a small village – their petty snobberies, appetite for gossip, and loyal support for each other in times of need This is a community that runs on cooperation and gossip, at the very heart of which are the daughters of the former rector: Miss Deborah Jenkyns and her sister Miss Matty, But domestic peace is constantly threatened in the form of financial disaster, imagined burglaries, tragic accidents, and the reapparance of long-lost relatives. to Lady Glenmire, who shocks everyone by marrying the doctor. When men do appear, such as ‘modern’ Captain Brown or Matty’s suitor from the past, they bring disruption and excitement to the everyday life of Cranford.
Goodreads.com
A sweet, though not overly memorable, story of small town life for a group of women. I really like Elizabeth Gaskell’s writing, so although this wasn’t my favorite of her novels, I’m still glad I read it.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
So Long a Letter
This novel is in the form of a letter, written by the widowed Ramatoulaye and describing her struggle for survival. It is the winner of the Noma Award.
Goodreads.com
A truly fascinating novella, written as a letter to a friend, exploring the experience of women in Senegal. While the majority of the book focuses on the experience of polygamy and how that can shape and tear apart a marriage, the book also covers the role of women in politics, education, and sexuality. As someone who knows very little about Senegal, I found it thought provoking.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
A Coup of Tea
When the fourth princess of Istalam is due to dedicate herself to a path serving the crown, she makes a choice that shocks everyone, herself most of all: She leaves.
In hiding and exiled from power, Miyara finds her place running a tea shop in a struggling community that sits on the edge of a magical disaster zone. But there’s more brewing under the surface of this city—hidden magic, and hidden machinations—that threaten all the people who’ve helped her make her own way.
Miyara may not be a princess anymore, but with a teapot in hand she’ll risk her newfound freedom to discover a more meaningful kind of power.
Goodreads.com
A truly beautiful and fun fantasy, starring former princess Miyara as she trains to become a Tea Master and does her best to serve her new friends and stop the systemic injustice in her new town. I loved it and have since devoured the rest of the series. If you’re looking for something that’s cozy, sweet, and surprisingly thoughtful, this is it!
Rating: Re-read Worthy
Mango, Mambo, and Murder
Food anthropologist Miriam Quinones-Smith’s move from New York to Coral Shores, Miami, is traumatic enough without having to deal with her son’s toddler tantrums and her husband’s midlife crisis. Her best friend, Alma, adds some spice back into Miriam’s life when she offers her a job as an on-air cooking expert on a Spanish-language morning TV show. But when the newly minted star attends a Women’s Club luncheon, a socialite sitting at her table suddenly falls face-first into the chicken salad, never to nibble again.
When a second woman dies soon after, suspicions coalesce around a controversial Cuban herbalist, Dr. Fuentes–especially after the morning show’s host collapses while interviewing him. But then, Detective Pullman learns that the socialite’s death resulted from a drug overdose–and an anonymous tip fingers Alma as the pusher.
Pullman persuades Miriam to ply her culinary know-how and her understanding of Coral Shores’s Caribbean culture to help find the killer and clear Alma’s name. While her hubby dallies with his ex-girlfriend, Juliet, Miriam quizzes her neighbors for answers and researches all manner of herbs.
As the ingredients to the deadly scheme begin blending together, Miriam is on the verge of learning how and why the women died. But her snooping may turn out to be a recipe for her own murder.
Goodreads.com
I thought I would love this cozy mystery, and I did enjoy the Miami setting and the recipes. However, I got super annoyed with Miriam’s husband and in laws. I’m not sure if I will return for the next installment, as so many of the characters were so unlikeable.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Of Manners and Murder
1885: London, England. When Violet’s Aunt Adelia decides to abscond with her newest paramour, she leaves behind her role as the most popular Agony Aunt in London, “Miss Hermione,” in Violet’s hands.
And of course, the first letter Violet receives is full, not of prissy pondering, but of portent. Ivy Armstrong is in need of help and fears for her life. But when Violet visits the village where the letters were posted, she finds that Ivy is already dead.
She’ll quickly discover that when you represent the best-loved Agony Aunt in Britain, both marauding husbands and murder are par for the course.
Goodreads.com
There are some noticeable flaws in logic and leaping to conclusions in this story, but on the whole I enjoyed this cozy mystery, as Violet takes over her aunt’s advice column and stumbles upon a murder in the process.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Against the Currant
Little Caribbean, Brooklyn, New Lyndsay Murray is opening Spice Isle Bakery with her family, and it’s everything she’s ever wanted. The West Indian bakery is her way to give back to the community she loves, stay connected to her Grenadian roots, and work side-by-side with her family. The only thing getting a rise out of Lyndsay is Claudio Fabrizi, a disgruntled fellow bakery owner who does not want any competition.
On opening day, he comes into the bakery threatening to shut them down. Fed up, Lyndsay takes him to task in front of what seems to be the whole neighborhood. So when Claudio turns up dead a day later―murdered―Lyndsay is unfortunately the prime suspect. To get the scent of suspicion off her and her bakery, Lyndsay has to prove she’s innocent―under the watchful eyes of her overprotective brother, anxious parents, and meddlesome extended family―what could go wrong?
Goodreads.com
A cute but predictable cozy mystery with the fun setting of a Caribbean bakery staffed by a family from Grenada. I have since read a couple more installments in this series, and found them all to be fun, filled with sweet characters, though not super inventive.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
A Most Agreeable Murder
Feisty, passionate Beatrice Steele has never fit the definition of a true lady, according to the strict code of conduct that reigns in Swampshire, her small English township–she is terrible at needlework, has absolutely no musical ability, and her artwork is so bad it frightens people. Nevertheless, she lives a perfectly agreeable life with her marriage-scheming mother, prankster father, and two younger sisters– beautiful Louisa and forgettable Mary. But she harbors a dark secret: She is obsessed with the true crime cases she reads about in the newspaper. If anyone in her etiquette-obsessed community found out, she’d be deemed a morbid creep and banished from respectable society forever.
For her family’s sake, she’s vowed to put her obsession behind her. Because eligible bachelor Edmund Croaksworth is set to attend the approaching autumnal ball, and the Steele family hopes that Louisa will steal his heart. If not, Martin Grub, their disgusting cousin, will inherit the family’s estate, and they will be ruined or, even worse, forced to move to France. So Beatrice must be on her best behavior . . . which is made difficult when a disgraced yet alluring detective inexplicably shows up to the ball.
Beatrice is just holding things together when Croaksworth drops dead in the middle of a minuet. As a storm rages outside, the evening descends into a frenzy of panic, fear, and betrayal as it becomes clear they are trapped with a killer. Contending with competitive card games, tricky tonics, and Swampshire’s infamous squelch holes, Beatrice must rise above decorum and decency to pursue justice and her own desires–before anyone else is murdered.
Goodreads.com
A pastiche of Pride and Prejudice, Hound of the Baskervilles, and dashes of Jane Eyre gothic. A funny, high energy cozy mystery with great characters and setting. I really enjoyed it, and if you have ever read and enjoyed any of these classic novels, I think you will too.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Vinyl Resting Place
When Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie put all their beans in one basket to open Sip & Spin Records, a record-slash-coffee shop in Cedar River, Texas, they knew there could be some scratches on the track, but no one was expecting to find a body deader than disco in the supply closet.
Family is everything to the Jessups, so when their uncle is arrested by Juni’s heartbreaking ex on suspicion of murder, the sisters don’t skip a beat putting Sip & Spin up for bail collateral. But their tune changes abruptly when Uncle Calvin disappears, leaving them in a grind. With their uncle’s freedom and the future of their small business on the line, it’s up to Juni and her sisters to get in the groove and figure out whodunit before the killer’s trail—and the coffee—goes cold.
Music and mocha seem like a blend that should be “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” but caught up in a murder investigation with her family and their life savings on the line, Juni wonders if she might be on the “Highway to Hell” instead.
Goodreads.com
I hated Beau and how main character Juni couldn’t seem to see what a jerk he was. I hated the uncle who caused so much trouble throughout the book. I didn’t mind the mystery or the setting, but the characters made it hard for me to really enjoy it.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Meh
A Fatal Groove
It’s springtime in Cedar River, Texas. The annual Bluebonnet Festival is brewing and the whole town is in harmony. Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie thought opening Sip & Spin Records was going to be their biggest hurdle, but the Frappuccino hits the fan when the mayor drops dead―poisoned by their delicious coffee.
Since Tansy was the one to brew the coffee, and Juni was the unfortunate citizen who stumbled upon the mayor’s body, the sisters find themselves in hot water. Family is everything to the Jessups, so with Tansy under suspicion, the sisters spring into action.
Between the town festivities, a good old-fashioned treasure hunt, and an accidental cow in the mix, Juni will have to pull out all the stops to find the mayor’s killer.
Goodreads.com
Another decent mystery with an annoying love triangle. I like Juni but I hate that she can’t choose between Beau and Teddy, and her uncle Calvin continues to be the worst. After reading two books in this cozy mystery series, I won’t be coming back.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Station Eternity
From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being surrounded by death doesn’t make you a charming amateur detective, it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is alien beings. At first her new existence is peacefully quiet…and markedly devoid of homicide.
But when the station agrees to allow additional human guests, Mallory knows the break from her peculiar reality is over. After the first Earth shuttle arrives, and aliens and humans alike begin to die, the station is thrown into peril. Stuck smack-dab in the middle of an extraterrestrial whodunit, and wondering how in the world this keeps happening to her anyway, Mallory has to solve the crime—and fast—or the list of victims could grow to include everyone on board….
Goodreads.com
A nearly perfect mix of murder mystery tropes and sci fi atmosphere. I loved the characters and the setting, and the plot was fast moving without ever getting overly technical or bogged down in details. I loved it–this was one of my favorite reads of last year.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Centuries before, robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, wandered, en masse into the wilderness, never to be seen again. They faded into myth and urban legend.
Now the life of the tea monk who tells this story is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They will need to ask it a lot. Chambers’ series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?
Goodreads.com
A short, beautiful story of Dex, a tea monk, and a robot named Mosscap in a gorgeous, futuristic world. I’ve since explored more of author Becky Chambers’s work, and it has all been cozy, thoughtful, and sweet.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
Put the kettle on, there’s a mystery brewing…
Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective?
Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).
But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.
Goodreads.com
What a fun book. This is a cozy mystery only in that there is little gore or suspense, but there is a real depth in the characters, their motivations and relationships. I would love to read another book about Vera and her eclectic found family solving mysteries.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Under the Whispering Door
Welcome to Charon’s Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.
When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.
And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.
But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.
Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.
Goodreads.com
A truly beautiful reflection on death, grief, legacy, and the capacity for change. This book will make you laugh and cry and rejoice all at once. T.J. Klune is becoming a must-read author for me.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Fatal Fudge Swirl
A movie production brings drama―and murder―to a close-knit New England village, forcing Riley Rhodes to scoop out the suspects.
Former CIA librarian and amateur sleuth Riley Rhodes is loving her fresh start as the manager of the Udderly Delicious Ice Cream Shop. The leaves are turning, tourists are leaf-peeping, and Penniman, Connecticut is putting finishing touches on the weekend long Halloween Happening. But the village is also buzzing. Former child star Cooper Collins is overseeing the production of a romantic comedy that’s filming on the town green and his domineering socialite mother, Diantha, is planning her lavish Halloween themed wedding at her Inn on the Green. Her fiancé has run the Inn’s kitchen for years, ably aided by his recent ex-wife, chef Mary Ann Dumas. An old friend of Riley’s, Mary Ann turns to her when the bride requests a spooky ice cream wedding cake.
But the weekend takes a frightful turn when Diantha is found dead and suspicion falls on Mary Ann. The cast of potential suspects is long―each wedding guest had a chilling motive to kill the vicious heiress. Can Riley unmask the murderer before another guest ends up on ice?
Goodreads.com
A predictable but satisfying cozy mystery with great characters. It’s nothing special, despite the fact that the main character is former CIA–I wish the book had explored that facet more.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
The Fifth Season
This is the way the world ends. Again.
Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze — the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization’s bedrock for a thousand years — collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman’s vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.
Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle royale of nations not for power or territory, but simply for the basic resources necessary to get through the long dark night. Essun does not care if the world falls apart around her. She’ll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.
Goodreads.com
I’m not usually a fan of science fiction, but authors like N.K. Jemisin might be changing my mind. I have since read the rest of this trilogy (really, I sped through it as fast as I could get my hands on the books), and I found it powerful and totally engaging. I’ve started to wonder if my issues with both science fiction and fantasy are that often the authors are more consumed with the setting than with creating engaging characters and plots. That is not a problem here–of course the setting is amazing and the world is well built, but Jemisin’s characters are what kept me coming back. I had to know what happened to them.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
The Golden Spoon
For six amateur bakers, competing in Bake Week is a dream come true.
When they arrive at Grafton Manor to compete, they’re ready to do whatever it takes to win the ultimate The Golden Spoon.
But for the show’s famous host, Betsy Martin, Bake Week is more than just a competition. Grafton Manor is her family’s home and legacy – and Bake Week is her life’s work. It’s imperative that both continue to succeed.
But as the competition commences, things begin to go awry. At first, it’s small acts of sabotage. Someone switching sugar for salt. A hob turned far too high.
But when a body is discovered, it’s clear that for someone in the competition, The Golden Spoon is a prize worth killing for…
Goodreads.com
A really fun manor mystery with a Great British Bake Off inspired setting. It’s filled with great characters and a satisfying (if not mind blowing) mystery.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord
When Lady Petra Forsyth’s fiancé and soulmate dies just weeks ahead of their wedding, she makes the shocking proclamation—in front of London’s loosest lips—that she will never remarry. A woman of independent means, Petra sees no reason to cede her wealth and freedom to any man now that the love of her life has passed, nor does she intend to become confined to her country home. Instead, she uses her title to gain access to elite spaces and enjoy the best of society without expectations.
But when ballroom gossip suggests that a longtime friend has died of “melancholia” while in the care of a questionable physician, Petra vows to use her status to dig deeper—uncovering a private asylum where men pay to have their wives and daughters locked away, or worse. Just as Lady Petra has reason to believe her friend is not dead, but a prisoner, her own headstrong actions and thirst for independence are used to put her own freedom in jeopardy.
Goodreads.com
This is kind of a mystery, but not exactly–it turns a bit more action-packed as we approach the ending. The regency era speech rings a bit false, and although I appreciate the feminist twist, it feels a bit heavy handed. This was not my favorite.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
The Sorceress Transcendent
When Varius, the greatest general of the Aurelian Empire, is forced to flee his homeland, there’s only one person he can turn to.
A powerful sorceress and once his most deadly enemy, Theira is the only combatant who’s ever escaped the war between their peoples. But with the memories of how they kept each other going from opposite sides of a battlefield, when a bleeding Varius knocks on her door, she lets him in, even knowing what will follow.
Theira may have gotten away, but as long as the war goes on, she’ll never really be free. Now with both their peoples actively hunting them, the two most dangerous fighters in a never-ending war will have to join forces to do the end it once and for all, on their terms.
And if they can dare to dream boldly enough, maybe find happiness for themselves, too.
Goodreads.com
This is such a sweet novella, full of magic and romance and two people ready to change the course of their lives (and their country). Although the setting is different from the Tea Princess world, the characters are similarly lovable, funny and vulnerable at the same time. I gobbled this up.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Nine Lives and Alibis
In Nine Lives and Alibis , the seventh in Cate Conte’s Cat Café beloved cozy mystery series, Daybreak Island is gearing up for Halloween―but this year it seems like it’ll be all tricks and no treats.
It’s October in Daybreak Harbor, which means everything Halloween. The town is going all out for the holiday, hoping to one-up the festivities in neighboring Salem, Massachusetts, and Maddie James is delighted to be part of the planning for the annual happenings.
But trouble brews when Maddie’s youngest sister, Sam, books a famous medium, Balfour Dempsey, to come to town for the celebrations and stay in the local haunted inn―along with his equally famous black cat. The town busybody books a secret reading with Balfour and doesn’t want anyone to know why. Maddie’s best friend Becky is hell-bent on getting Balfour to help her solve two 40-year-old mysteries―a murder and a missing maid. And the psychic has a stalker who’s followed him here to the island, demanding he connect with her dead husband.
When Balfour is pushed off the cliffs behind the inn to his death and his beloved cat goes missing, it throws the whole town into a frenzy. And Maddie and her family find themselves in the middle of a murder mystery straight out of a Halloween movie.
Goodreads.com
A fine, somewhat supernatural cozy mystery. I could have used less of a recap of the rest of the series and more of the cat cafe itself. Enjoyable but forgettable.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
To the Lighthouse
The serene and maternal Mrs. Ramsay, the tragic yet absurd Mr. Ramsay, and their children and assorted guests are on holiday on the Isle of Skye. From the seemingly trivial postponement of a visit to a nearby lighthouse, Woolf constructs a remarkable, moving examination of the complex tensions and allegiances of family life and the conflict between men and women.
As time winds its way through their lives, the Ramsays face, alone and simultaneously, the greatest of human challenges and its greatest triumph—the human capacity for change.
Goodreads.com
Not much plot, but beautiful writing. Virginia Woolf’s classic is one of those that I wish I had read in a college class, as I feel I’m probably missing a lot of the nuance. Still, I’m glad I read it.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Endpapers
It’s 2003, and artist Dawn Levit is stuck. A bookbinder who works in conservation at the Met, she spends her free time scouting the city’s street art, hoping something might spark inspiration. Instead, everything looks like a dead end. And art isn’t the only thing that feels wrong: wherever she turns, her gender identity clashes with the rest of her life. Her relationship, once anchored by shared queerness, is falling apart as her boyfriend Lukas increasingly seems to be attracted to Dawn only when she’s at her most masculine. Meanwhile at work, Dawn has to present as female, even on the days when that isn’t true. Either way, her difference feels like a liability.
Then, one day at work, Dawn finds something hidden behind the endpaper of an old book: the torn-off cover of a ‘50s lesbian pulp novel, Turn Her About. On the front is a campy illustration of a woman looking into a handheld mirror and seeing a man’s face. And on the back is a love letter.
Dawn latches onto the coincidence, becoming obsessed with tracking down the note’s author. Her fixation only increases when her best friend Jae is injured in a hate crime, for which Dawn feels responsible. As Dawn searches for the letter’s author, she is also looking for herself. She tries to understand how to live in a world that doesn’t see her as she truly is, how to get unstuck in her gender, and how to rediscover her art, and she can’t shake the feeling that the note’s author might be able to help guide her to the answers.
A sharply written, deeply evocative story about what it means to live authentically—even within an identity whose parameters have not yet been defined—Endpapers will appeal to readers of queer, nonbinary, or trans fiction like Torrey Peters’ Detransition, Baby as well as anyone who loves character-driven, setting-rich stories like Tell the Wolves I’m Home or The Immortalists.
Goodreads.com
Dawn is a genderqueer bookbinder, working in NYC in 2003 when she finds a note glued in the endpaper of a book, sending her on a quest to discover her own gender identity with the help of a stranger. It is difficult to read about Dawn’s journey, as her relationships and experiences go wrong so easily, but it was also an interesting read.
*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Rating: Good but Forgettable
Killers of a Certain Age
They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they’re sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire – it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller.
Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.
When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they’ve been marked for death.
Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman–and a killer–of a certain age.
Goodreads.com
This book lives up to the hype. I’m not usually a fan of spy novels, but this one, which centers a group of women in their sixties, was fun and action-packed without becoming too gruesome or bogged down in the details of their plans. The fun is in watching these women, underestimated by sexist stereotypes all their careers, use their age as a new way to get their foes to underestimate them.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Longbourn
If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she’d most likely be a sight more careful with them.
In this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice, the servants take center stage. Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing the laundry, polishing the floors, and emptying the chamber pots for the Bennet household. But there is just as much romance, heartbreak, and intrigue downstairs at Longbourn as there is upstairs. When a mysterious new footman arrives, the orderly realm of the servants’ hall threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended.
Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Jane Austen’s classic—into the often overlooked domain of the stern housekeeper and the starry-eyed kitchen maid, into the gritty daily particulars faced by the lower classes in Regency England during the Napoleonic Wars—and, in doing so, creates a vivid, fascinating, fully realized world that is wholly her own.
Goodreads.com
This is a really interesting retelling of Pride and Prejudice from the view of the servants–the events that upset the Bennets, Bingleys, and Darcys affect but don’t consume the characters of this book. I gained a deeper understanding of the class system at this time, as well as the daily life of a servant and the political forces that Jane Austen’s books skate around.
Rating: Pretty Darn Good
Newbery and Beyond 