This is not just about death, loss, and grief, although you know there'sgoing to be that, and it is heartbreaking. There is also violence, suffering, This is not just about death, loss, and grief, although you know there'sgoing to be that, and it is heartbreaking. There is also violence, suffering, pain, because the cat who found Carr had also endured a horrible beginning. But there is unconditional love, and companionship, and someone who understands, which is to say: grace.
Carr's memoir is remarkable because he paid such close attention from the beginning to Masha. His thoughts, like his feelings, had time to develop an exquisite complexity and richness. He wrote as if he had all the time in the world. He didn't, of course, none of us do, but he did have just enough. A beautiful memorial to a remarkable cat, who brought out all his finer qualities in a way people mostly didn't. I cannot believe in an afterlife that doesn't reunite them.
I had to put it down, because work and eating and such, but this just brought me so much joy. Kingfisher is so good at creating an outrageous fictive I had to put it down, because work and eating and such, but this just brought me so much joy. Kingfisher is so good at creating an outrageous fictive world in which people behave much more like real humans do. Very much more than I do, to take one example. The mix of horror, humor, and caper is beguiling.
Plus geese, and beautiful endpapers, and a really lovely cover that I can't stop admiring. Highly recommended for a Halloween read, or a gift to others if you can't hold off reading it yourself right away.
Solomon's books are a delight. She manages to capture the vast array of golden opportunities and the rather more common indignities, annoyances, and sSolomon's books are a delight. She manages to capture the vast array of golden opportunities and the rather more common indignities, annoyances, and social failures the freshman is heir to.
A marvelous, creepy, story set on an isolated island owned by a man with too much money to be bound by society. Mrs. Charles Fort is underestimated byA marvelous, creepy, story set on an isolated island owned by a man with too much money to be bound by society. Mrs. Charles Fort is underestimated by everyone, including Theodore Drieser, a fan of her husband. Set during the global flu pandemic of 1918, everything here feels familiar, plausible, and too disturbing to be fiction. The author does a lovely job of recreating a weird time of great change and horrible possibilities and a woman's precarious security in the world. Also: a ripping yarn with echoes of Verne and Wells.
I'm sitting here, metaphorically drumming my fingernails impatiently. I have finished this series and it will be at least three months until the firstI'm sitting here, metaphorically drumming my fingernails impatiently. I have finished this series and it will be at least three months until the first book in their next outing is published. This is such a good pairing of collaborators. They've got the banter, the attraction, the very odd supporting cast. This is a series that if filmed would create a couple of new action stars.
And because this is the final tale in the trilogy, there's time to flesh out the people of small-town Burney, OH. And by focusing on the town the authors have managed a really neat trick: they have shown a society that isn't polarized. Maybe I need to cut back on my news intake, because it feels amazing that political parties are never mentioned. That feels so refreshing. People are still horrible in all the usual ways, but they're horrible because they do horrible things, not because of their opinions on unrelated topics. It's so refreshing to see a small town that's a seething cauldron of greed, lust, and other nice old-fashioned vices.
Also, for those who love this sort of thing, as I do, this one has quite a bit of real estate interest. I wouldn't be surprised to learn HGTV was trying to acquire the rights.
Personal, pre-ordered copy. Because the authors have been wise to mention that is particularly important, and because getting a new book by favorite authors every month is a dream that has languished since the mainline Nancy Drew's stopped publishing eons ago.
I like these stories a great deal: they tend toward the whimsical and a cheerful tone. Much less dark and angst than the novels. Well, given the naturI like these stories a great deal: they tend toward the whimsical and a cheerful tone. Much less dark and angst than the novels. Well, given the nature of the brief for most of them, they tend more towards a warm and family-friendly Christmas episode.
I was trying to find out if an author tour is planned, so I could pick up a hardcover copy from a local bookstore nearish hosting an eve03 April, 2023
I was trying to find out if an author tour is planned, so I could pick up a hardcover copy from a local bookstore nearish hosting an event where I could say "I love your work" and get a copy signed. Did not find. Checked the publisher website and saw "Category: Romance."
WTH? To be clear, I read a lot of romance, so I am not ragging on the idea. I just can't reconcile having only one Category tag for an author with crossover appeal. But also: did anyone in marketing look at that cover? That cover says "for fans of
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and
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, and
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" That cover says humorous scifi, not Romance.
Am I wrong?
***
4th July, 2023
And today I finished reading it, coincidentally over the July fourth weekend during which I also saw Asteroid City. Not the only good time to read it, but pretty good.
The book is better than "pretty good" by a lot. Classic screwball comedy which does require a little love interest, but is more about putting sane people in a maelstrom of amusing absurdity for comic effect. Willis is brilliant at that maelstrom. And at the cinematic references. So many movies are named checked, that one should probably not read it without an interest in movies. A delightful read, and one lending itself to dream casting: there aren't any bad choices no matter when or where the cast is selected.
I read this and the second book out of order. They're both a bit Princess Bride, the movie, and just silly fun. But I think I prefer this one just a tI read this and the second book out of order. They're both a bit Princess Bride, the movie, and just silly fun. But I think I prefer this one just a tiny bit: the bit at the very end.
Interesting take on Queen Victoria, too. Possibly my favorite there as well.
Knocking off half an hour before bedtime because the creepiness factor has increased exponentially. And it is in no way related to memories02 May 2023
Knocking off half an hour before bedtime because the creepiness factor has increased exponentially. And it is in no way related to memories of my grandmother who was sternly disapproving.
***
05 May 2023
Probably the first time I've closed a horror book and thought "relatable," but there you are. Sam's reactions, her sense of humor, and that damn grandmother all provide a firm reality with no self-concious spookiness. And this does fall into that sweet spot where the humor doesn't break up the building horror. Just the thing to delight my darlings with for All Hallow's Read. Well, maybe I'll just let them borrow mine.
Shout-out to Karolis Strautniekas and Ester S. Kim, jacket artist and designer respectively, for the excellent work. Great concept well executed. Love the vulture shadow, but the wallpaper, perfect.
Reading, I was inexplicably grudging. There is no obvious reason; there's nothing wrong with the book. And yet, I kept second-guessing historical detaReading, I was inexplicably grudging. There is no obvious reason; there's nothing wrong with the book. And yet, I kept second-guessing historical details, looking them up in order to think "Ah ha! Caught you!" Never did, of course, logically an author wouldn't include period details that were easily googled and found wanting, but I couldn't stop myself. Well, I learned some interesting stuff about what an amazing paper The Springfield Republican has been, which is irrelevant.
Anyway, it's a post-war noir with women in the leads as detective and protégé, and it deals realistically with disability and the failure of police in domestic violence. Maybe noir is too much of a downer for me right now? Whatever, I will keep away from Spotswood in the future only because he doesn't deserve a begrudging review saying the book is just fine, and I shouldn't have carried on. And to compound my sin, the book was overdue to be returned, and I kept it to finish, and no doubt inconvenienced someone waiting for it who would whole-heartedly love it. Blame the imp of perversity.
It delighted me when Father Divine came up, someone I only recently learned of, so plate o' shrimp! Also, Patience and Fortitude got a shout out, and I love them. Many mystery writers of the Golden Age were name checked, again, to my delight. I don't know what's wrong with me for not loving it, maybe the Adderall shortage is wrecking my life more than I realized.
Charlie has lost almost everything: his career is gone with newspapers amidst corporate takeovers and the internet and Google taking up all the ad spaCharlie has lost almost everything: his career is gone with newspapers amidst corporate takeovers and the internet and Google taking up all the ad space. He came back to his hometown to look after his father. All he has left is his father's house, his cat, one suit, two ties, and a sense of humor.
And, oh, how I enjoyed this book. I loved the interplay between characters, the snappy conversations, and Charlie's very middle class American point of view. He keeps plugging away, with a dream to restart his life. Then his essentially unknown billionaire uncle dies and he discovers there really are supervillains. Charlie is everyone who is hanging on to the vanishing middle class as billionaire robber barons assemble monopolies and fire workers who think a union might get them a living wage.
Charlie's struggle is real, and then his life becomes chaos, which is every bit as funny and action-packed and relatable as The Kaiju Preservation Society.
Library copy because the minimum wage has been held down in spite of reason, productivity, inflation, soaring housing costs, and soaring corporate profits. Support the strikers!...more
The joy of reading YA is that stories about young adults, written for young adults, often veer off in unexpected directions. This is a s6 January 2023
The joy of reading YA is that stories about young adults, written for young adults, often veer off in unexpected directions. This is a story about five teens and a dog living in yet another small town hollowed out by catastrophe and no future. Two have just graduated, but this summer will be spent with time carved out from between their jobs at Walmart and the YMCA shooting video of themselves ghost hunting. And then one night something amazing falls from the sky...
You can shoot your own trailer from that. There's danger and excitement and mystery in the best Scooby-Doo tradition, although these kids can't afford a van. There is ever increasing creepiness and un-put-downable suspense. And then there's more.
The beginning, the grim reality of their lives, drags on the reader as much as on Franny. But Henry knows how to raise the stakes. So worth it.
Kowal makes some bold choices and I loved them all. Tell The Thin Man with Nora as the primary character? Send the leads on a honeymoon trip to Mars? Kowal makes some bold choices and I loved them all. Tell The Thin Man with Nora as the primary character? Send the leads on a honeymoon trip to Mars? I mean, most cruises seem like hell to me, but a space cruise is cool, and succeeds at recapturing the glamour of Murder on the Orient Express, or cean crossings via first class. The most amazing feat is to make the leads just as rich and privileged as Nick and Nora but not the kind of egomaniacal super-rich assholes we've come to accept they mostly are. Of course, the cute dog helps. Literally. Gimlet is a service-animal, and everybody loves a good dog. The only disappointment I have is that reading a novel I was deprived of what would surely be fabulous costumes in the film. Well, that's something to look forward to, right?
Holton has taken the 5 pound sack of the romance genre and stuffed in damn near everything good in all of literature. There's some Shakespeare and quiHolton has taken the 5 pound sack of the romance genre and stuffed in damn near everything good in all of literature. There's some Shakespeare and quite a lot of Austen, and also it captures some of the mood of The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists and To Say Nothing of the Dog perhaps a dash of Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch and Soulless. It is The Princess Bride as Reiner filmed it, rather than as Goldman wrote it. It is madcap and raucous and rollicking with many weapons and pots of tea and outrageous hats.
Sometimes it feels as though we are approaching a literary singularity when all fiction with a happy ending will be Romance, regardless of age group or anything else. The other books will be limited to one bookcase back in thecorner near the restrooms, labeled something catcher but along the lines of Unhappily Ever After. I can live with that. Happily.
Because Hendrix knows exactly what can actually terrify me, I only read his books in the morning, when I won't be alone or in the dark05 February 2023
Because Hendrix knows exactly what can actually terrify me, I only read his books in the morning, when I won't be alone or in the dark for hours yet. Sitting here, petting the cat, watching the Spouse sleep through the open door, I look up from the page, the freeze/fight/flight adrenaline stronger than 2 cups of coffee and my ADHD meds with a decongestant chaser.
"falling as fast as she could, landing...so hard it knocked the soul right out of her body...and a millisecond later her head hit the wooden floor with a jarring, hollow knock she could smell."
That sounds so Southern, and the synesthesia works well.
***
06 February 2023
Finished this morning. So satisfying. The contempt for people from outside the South buying up houses is spot on, as is the excitement to be looking at a profit in that inflated, hot sellers market. See The House Next Door for a 1978 Atlanta take.
What makes it so great is how banal it is: the family at the funeral, the stupid, embarrassing fights, the ugliest house in the neighborhood, the stuff left over when the kids move out and on, the detritus parents hang on to, nostalgic for a childhood the kids can't leave fast enough.
From the absurd number of tags/shelves I've marked it should be clear that this book manages to. Hit a whole slew of interests. I love these books. I From the absurd number of tags/shelves I've marked it should be clear that this book manages to. Hit a whole slew of interests. I love these books. I love that Cashore is out there having adventures and turning them into stories so that I don't have to go to sea and suffer all that. Because as much as sailing appeals to me, the seasickness would be unbearable.
Now off to start over again with Graceling for the New Year.
**spoiler alert** What happens when a clever person reflects on the problems in a very popular series of books? Maybe Novik didn't start this series t**spoiler alert** What happens when a clever person reflects on the problems in a very popular series of books? Maybe Novik didn't start this series thinking how to fix issues with other books set in a world where magic is real and kids go off to special magic boarding school, but it seems like she might have.
It's an interesting world, with quite the dark side, one which incorporates thoughtful consideration of power, and class, and injustice, and prejudice, and friendship, and making deliberate choices. This is for readers whose taste runs more to The Hunger Games and less to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Lots of quandaries, ambiguities, complexities, nuance, and a heroine who pisses everyone off. It's also a series aimed at an older audience, so there's rather more typical teen behavior and less marriage at eighteen.
Brilliant tale of a group drawn together on a quest. The book opens with Marra in the bone pit, an unfamiliar setting and task, but so right. There arBrilliant tale of a group drawn together on a quest. The book opens with Marra in the bone pit, an unfamiliar setting and task, but so right. There are three impossible tasks that are firmly grounded in domesticity. The quest proceeds at a walking pace, but it is never boring. There are grim scenes and horrible acts, bur there is so much humor in real world reactions to fantasy concepts.
There is a trip to the goblin market, as there is in
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. Both of these scenes manage to convey the wonder and the fear of so much that is uncanny and inconceivable.
Kingfisher gives us an even more mundane person than Frodo. trying to accomplish the impossible because it must be done, but here it is the unlikely hero who gathers the party and makes the plans and worries about having enough blankets. The result is a fairytale that feels familiar but is refreshingly unexpected.
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