Shortly after his arrival at CERN, a scientist is found dead in one of the tunnels. Speculation swirls about what he was doi
3-1/2 stars, rounded up
Shortly after his arrival at CERN, a scientist is found dead in one of the tunnels. Speculation swirls about what he was doing underground -- and why he was at CERN at all.
This is a very unusual mystery, and a little frustrating because of that.
It's told from two POVs -- Eve, another scientist who was clearly (this is not a spoiler, I swear; it's that obvious from the get-go) dead-guy Howard's girlfriend (although the book seems to try to keep that a secret for the first two-thirds, for no good reason); and Sabine, a private detective who is called in because she lives nearby and studied physics with two of the top scientist/administrators at CERN.
Eve is a bit bland, and her "Before" chapters drag with the weight of pretending that she and Howard were not sleeping together. This pretense backfires a bit. It kept me from getting attached to Howard (and instead spending a fair amount of my reading time wondering if the author was herself trying not to get attached to Howard), and it left me wholly un-invested in Eve's and Howard's relationship, because I didn't get to live with it through much of the story. Howard is like a vague, ephemeral ghost, just a memory before he's even gone. I think this portion of the book would have been much stronger if it had been more honest and upfront, and made Howard more real.
Sabine's chapters are straightforward detective work, but as a 50-something, Sabine has some history and an outlook that make her more interesting than Eve. She's pragmatic and efficient, gathering evidence and finding connections in an understated but compelling manner. Her portions kept me going when I wanted to step in and shake Eve for being so unforthcoming.
So why the rounded-up rating? First, this book set a mood that drew me in and kept me in its atmosphere even when I wasn't reading. Second, the mystery part was decently gripping and kept me searching for clues along with Sabine. And third, there is a science fiction aspect to the story that is maybe a little out of place, but which for me added an angle that cast the entire book in a more interesting light. This is a slightly different kind of mystery, fairly quiet, definitely sad, and with a creative genre overlap.
This is a dark little re-telling of Sleeping Beauty. The atmosphere is deadly earnest, without T. Kingfisher's usual comic touches (but with all of heThis is a dark little re-telling of Sleeping Beauty. The atmosphere is deadly earnest, without T. Kingfisher's usual comic touches (but with all of her usual charm!). I was pulled right into Toadling's world and mission and the weight on her shoulders. (If I pause for a second, I can be right back shrinking down into the mud with her.)
The stakes became more and more terrifying with every reveal about what Toadling is guarding. And the solution -- well, maybe there isn't one. I'm not telling! Let's just say my fingernails were all bitten down by the end of this story. ...more
Just before Christmas, Sarah Booth Delaney's friend Cece receives a message that her young cousin Eve is being held for ransom. Complicating matter
Just before Christmas, Sarah Booth Delaney's friend Cece receives a message that her young cousin Eve is being held for ransom. Complicating matters, Eve is pregnant and due any minute, while Cece is estranged from that part of her family. Can Sarah Booth figure out who is holding Eve, why they would do such a thing, and most important, where Eve is?
I enjoyed last year's Christmas mystery in this series so much that I decided to look for another one even though I'm supposedly reading the books in order now.
This did not disappoint! I love this series. Sarah Booth has a great voice and outlook, the Mississippi delta setting is vivid, and all of the characters are great people to spend time with. The pacing is great, as always with these books, and I zoomed through the story. Everything worked out to great satisfaction. I'm not entirely sure about the medical plot driver, but that's a small quibble.
Now I've got to get back to the beginning and keep working my way forward....more
Nina, Shirin, and Silvia met in a college writing class, bonded over being the only Asians, and became best friends for life. When they graduate, t
Nina, Shirin, and Silvia met in a college writing class, bonded over being the only Asians, and became best friends for life. When they graduate, they move to New York together and seek the title promise. And while it's not necessarily what they were expecting or hoping for, interesting experiences are had by all.
This is an oddly-shaped book, so instead of carrying it around, I made it my bedtime reading, with the result that I spent about three weeks living with these young women. And I really enjoyed it!
This is pretty long compared to most of the graphic novels I read, with several plot threads running through it. The heroines deal with bad bosses, Asian pigeonholing, relationships, and mental health, and befriend a once-famous Vietnamese writer who is now in her 90's. And they do it with charm and humor that made every page of this book a delight to look at and read. I'm glad I picked this up. ...more
Author Finlay Donovan is recently divorced with two little kids, worse than broke, and not even started on the manuscript she's supposed
3-1/2 stars
Author Finlay Donovan is recently divorced with two little kids, worse than broke, and not even started on the manuscript she's supposed to submit in two weeks. But when a woman at the next table in Panera misunderstands a conversation between Finlay and her agent, a whole new path in life opens up -- if Finlay can live to enjoy it.
I read this because I picked up the second book out of a Little Free Library, read a few pages and enjoyed them, and realized I should probably read the first book first.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It requires a LOT of suspension of disbelief, plus Finlay is a serious hot mess, which can often drive me bananas in characters. But I really enjoyed this! Neither Finlay nor the book takes themself too seriously, and the comedic tone carries through even some very dangerous situations with cold-blooded killers. The plot twists were many, the difficulties were diabolical, and the solutions were clever. Details brought in at the beginning of the story turned out to be important at the end, which I always find satisfying.
Being me, the thing I fretted about the most was, when Finlay found herself with roughly $50k in cash, how did she get that money into the bank and out to her debt collectors without raising any financial red flags? (Banks are required to report any cash deposit or withdrawal of $10k+ to the federal government. And it certainly looks odd when a person with no money makes a big fat cash deposit even if it wasn't the whole $50k. I just wish this had been touched on, since there were explanations for pretty much everything else in the story.)
Book 2 is still sitting on my to-read pile, and I will get to it shortly. ...more
Sibling Dex decides to leave the comfort of their monastery and travel around Panga doing their deity's calling: providing tea, empathy, and help t
Sibling Dex decides to leave the comfort of their monastery and travel around Panga doing their deity's calling: providing tea, empathy, and help to those who need it. But after a few years, they feel a different calling, to ride their tea bike off the paved roads and into the wilderness, where an ancient monastery might still be standing. In the wilderness, they meet something entirely unexpected: a robot, the descendant of robots who walked away from the factories of Panga generations before Dex was born.
I read this for a book group at my church, and we had an awesome discussion about it. For a short book, it offers a lot to think about. It was also a wonderful read, maintaining a warm and sunny tone throughout the entire story. (I learned in our discussion that this is part of a sub-genre called "hopepunk," and I'm thinking I should read more of it.)
This is the first book I've ever read where the only pronouns used are "they" for Dex and "it" for Spendid Speckled Mosscap. It was interesting to listen to people stumbling over them in our book discussion, even though my church has multiple they's. So it's a little challenging because no use of "he" or "she" does not really come naturally to most ears yet. I really admired the resistance to gendering or anthropomorphizing the robot in any way. It remains an it, and somewhat unknowable in its experience, and I appreciated that.
I'm going to look for the sequel to this. I really enjoyed the positive future it presents, and the world it's set in. ...more
Lady Augusta Colebrook and her twin sister Julia, now in their early 40's, are clearly permanent spinsters in Regency London. But they are lucky, a
Lady Augusta Colebrook and her twin sister Julia, now in their early 40's, are clearly permanent spinsters in Regency London. But they are lucky, as they have financial means of their own. After they successfully help one friend avoid scandal, they find themselves asked again -- and again -- to aid other women in dire circumstances. How can they say no?
I enjoyed this quite a bit! Gus, as she prefers to be called, has a strong voice and even stronger opinions about the status of women in England at the time, which is decidedly awful all around. (I haven't heard any young women assert "I'm not a feminist, but ..." to my face in a while now, but if I do again, I will be tempted to smack them with this book.) The story maintains a fairly upbeat tone, but the positions of the women receiving aid are truly terrifying and gritty, and all the worse because they are true.
This features action, romance, plotting and planning, derring-do, and spines of steel. There are about four episodes/rescues, and all are carried out cleverly and brilliantly, with this reader barely able to breathe through them and the many chances for failure.
My only complaint is that the book felt a bit long to me. The first chapter dragged a bit, the middle flew by, and then with about 100 pages left I just wanted to be done. I'm not sure if it's because the sheer misery of experiencing being chattel who could be tortured, abused, or murdered at male whim was wearing on me or if it was the deep level of detail of Regency life (the author has a degree in Regency studies, and while I appreciated her knowledge and its accuracy, it was still a bit much). But overall the story was gripping and entertaining.
I'm not sure I personally need another book in this series, but I will look for Book 2 when it comes out and see how I feel then. ...more
When social worker Athena Lo notices a pattern of young women disappearing and turning up dead, she decides to investigate for herself, and finds h
When social worker Athena Lo notices a pattern of young women disappearing and turning up dead, she decides to investigate for herself, and finds herself involved in the world of Carmilla's, a bar with a difficult-to-pin down owner and some mysterious staff.
I really enjoyed this explicitly queer take on this story, which modernizes it to mid-90's New York City.
The plot stays dark and gloomy and pretty scary. It's a good thing it's a pretty quick read, because it did get in my head a bit. This take on the tale also combines Chinese mythology with Sheridan LeFanu's descriptions of European vampires. I also really liked that in this world, the original Carmilla story actually exists, and Athena reads it.
I'm slightly annoyed that this ended with Athena heading off to solve another mystery -- because I want to read that next installment now!
This was a bit of a mixed bag, and like many graphic novels, felt a little too short. But I liked the artwork and the way the story was done, and I'm definitely in for whatever happens next. ...more
When Ernest's developing Alzheimer's starts causing frequent confusion and a few angry outbursts, his family places him in an assisted living home wheWhen Ernest's developing Alzheimer's starts causing frequent confusion and a few angry outbursts, his family places him in an assisted living home where he meets a cast of other elderly people with similar, but highly idiosyncratic, symptoms.
This was a sweet, warmhearted, loving but also very bittersweet look at aging, trying to hold onto oneself and one's own best history, and the slow loss of autonomy. Emilio's roommate, Miguel, brings some comedy to the story, but overall the tone is poignant and melancholy.
It's more a series of vignettes than a plot, because it's just a bit of life and that's how real life goes. I loved every character in the story. It's very short, and yet a month after reading it, I'm finding myself still affected by it. The artwork was very appealing to me, too. I'll be looking for more books by Paco Roca....more
3-1/2 stars This was a weird book, but definitely enjoyable. It's a suspense thriller in which some people have disappeared without a trace and some pe3-1/2 stars This was a weird book, but definitely enjoyable. It's a suspense thriller in which some people have disappeared without a trace and some people are in hiding, and bad people are out to find them, combined with a story of a quirky town filled with unusual people who were looking for a home and found a welcome there. I'm not sure the two stories actually sat well together -- I completely forgot about the suspense part for a big chunk in the middle of the book, and the treasure-hunters part of the plot really didn't make any sense -- but the book was mostly fun, and I sailed through it.
If I could stop forgetting what I know, I'd remember to pick up the first book in this series. But sadly, this title is a little too effective. :-D...more
When Vern moves back in with his mom and grandma after losing his job, his grandmother signs him up for a new one, and he can't say no
3-1/2 stars
When Vern moves back in with his mom and grandma after losing his job, his grandmother signs him up for a new one, and he can't say no -- it's at her old workplace. When he's handed a mop and a bucket, he has no idea what he'll be cleaning up ... or what he'll discover.
This was quick and cute. Vern is a full-grown adult, but I think this book could easily be read by anyone 11 and up. The story was interesting and kept me flipping the pages.
The biggest problem for me is, it's a little too short, so it felt kind of rushed. It lacks buildup and the ending is just reveal-reveal-reveal-DONE. I barely had time to wonder what was going on before it was over. And while all the connections made sense and were satisfying, I would rather have had just a little more chance to try to figure things out on my own, with Vern. Because of that, I've rounded my rating down instead of up.
Overall, I enjoyed this, but it wasn't particularly memorable -- I forgot I read it already, until I saw a copy on display at the library and thought "Maybe I should write a review for that."...more
Who knew a world without men could be so funny? (Sorry, guys)
I wasn't sure what to expect from this, since I saw it mentioned tangentially in another Who knew a world without men could be so funny? (Sorry, guys)
I wasn't sure what to expect from this, since I saw it mentioned tangentially in another book and decided to look for it. I thought it would be more novel-like, but instead it's written as comic episodes, with hilarious punch lines. And there is some plot as the characters interact. All of them really grew on me as I read, and now I'm going to miss them even though I only knew them for a day. Sob. ...more
When Mica accompanies her elderly grandmother from Israel to Warsaw, she assumes they're just going to try to reclaim a property that was stolen fr
When Mica accompanies her elderly grandmother from Israel to Warsaw, she assumes they're just going to try to reclaim a property that was stolen from her great-grandparents by the Nazis. But her grandmother doesn't do the things Mica expects, or go to the places she claims to be interested in. And a man from their flight keeps turning up everywhere Mica goes. Is there a different story behind this trip than what Mica was led to believe?
I picked this up on a whim when I was looking for another graphic novel, but wasn't sure how much I really wanted to read it even when I started it, since it sounded pretty sad and I've been going through a rough period.
But I was immediately pulled in to this always-surprising, complex story. It's got a little bit of everything: suspense, twists and turns, modern romance, past romance, grief, and hope. Every character has their own motives, that may or may not mesh with anyone else's. And they all have some secrets.
I really liked the artwork, definitely a plus for getting through a graphic novel. There's one startling incident to me, art-wise, when one character draws another in pencil -- and the drawing looks like a "real life" sketch of a person, if that makes sense. It was really odd to me to be forced to see that character as they would look if I met them on the street, not like a comic character.
This was a quick read with a deep, touching story, and I absolutely loved it. ...more
Ruthy Ramirez disappeared over a decade ago, on her way home from middle school track practice. Her sisters, Nina and Jessica, have gotten on with
Ruthy Ramirez disappeared over a decade ago, on her way home from middle school track practice. Her sisters, Nina and Jessica, have gotten on with their lives okay. But then Jessica sees a young woman on TV who looks just like Ruthy, and the wondering starts again.
This book is hard to describe. It's not a "what happened to Ruthy Ramirez?" thriller with a question mark. And it's not a trauma story about a family that can't heal or anything like that. It's a warm, intimate story about the remaining female members of a family that's experienced tragedy, and who just go on -- loving each other, crabbing at each other, and just carrying a memory of the one who is gone.
And the weird thing is, I could not put it down. Partly because I was curious about how it was going to end. But mostly because I was absorbed into their lives, and how they were going to be affected by learning whether the TV woman was actually Ruthy, or not. I absolutely zoomed through this, which has not happened to me in a while.
And then the ending (view spoiler)[made me cry. I didn't expect to feel nearly as affected by it as I was. Well done, and darn you, book. (hide spoiler)]
This was a pleasantly surprisingly good debut, and I'm looking forward to whatever Claire Jimenez writes next....more
Ellen Curtis, professional declutterer, finds one of her clients dead and assumes the cause was old age ... until the cops arrange an autopsy and s
Ellen Curtis, professional declutterer, finds one of her clients dead and assumes the cause was old age ... until the cops arrange an autopsy and start asking questions. Meanwhile, her sort-of adult children both require her attention. Life is pretty busy, but she's nevertheless determined to figure out what happened to Cedric.
I read the second book in this series a year ago because I've enjoyed a few Simon Brett mysteries when they appear on the New Books shelf at the library. I was a bit meh about last year's installment -- it was a little grey for me -- so I never looked up the first book. But when I saw this one, I knew it would be a quick read, and since I was in a bit of a reading slump, mysteries have been hitting the spot for me. So I picked it up.
And I enjoyed this much more than the previous one. Maybe it was just nice to be back in the familiar territory of Ellen's narration, or maybe it's because this story ended up feeling a little more colorful and positive than last year's, but I really enjoyed this. Enough so that I actually suffered a teeny book hangover when I finished it. Both the mystery and Ellen's life worked out very well in the end -- satisfactorily and believably. I'm looking forward to more installments in this series. ...more
Meg is in the midst of being forced to work on preparations for her brother's wedding when her nephew asks her for help. He and a friend have start
Meg is in the midst of being forced to work on preparations for her brother's wedding when her nephew asks her for help. He and a friend have started a cold case podcast, but someone just tried to run over his friend. Maybe one of those cases isn't so cold after all. Meg is thrilled to be able to dodge wedding minutiae ... and yes, round up a few peacocks in the process.
This was terrific! So much fun! Meg has a great voice; her family is crazy but within normal, enjoyable parameters; and the tension was maintained across three(!) cold case mysteries, all of which were tied up to perfect satisfaction.
This story held up fine as a standalone despite being the 31st in its series. I love the bird theme for all the titles, and I'm hoping to read all of these in order over the next couple years. How have I never heard of this series before?...more
Hmm, I liked this well enough but not enough that I remembered reading it until I was cleaning up my For Later shelf at the library just now. This wasHmm, I liked this well enough but not enough that I remembered reading it until I was cleaning up my For Later shelf at the library just now. This was a weird borderline between feeling middle grade and feeling YA. The mythology had some holes in it for me (especially the ending). And the mustache-twirling villain was over the top. I'm not sure I'm going to continue with this series. ...more
Kumiko has had it with spending her final months in an assisted-living facility. So she walks out, gets her own apartment, and refuses to tell her
Kumiko has had it with spending her final months in an assisted-living facility. So she walks out, gets her own apartment, and refuses to tell her children where she is. She's quite pleased with the arrangement. But a shadow follows her, playing a game of wits. Who will outsmart who?
I'm a fan of Hiromi Goto's prose novels and needed a book I could read in a day before starting a buddy read, so I decided to squeeze this in.
It's mostly charming. Kumiko is stubborn and quirky; she knows her own mind and how she likes things. And she savors her freedom, since she knows it can't really last. I enjoyed watching her just living her life. And I was delighted with how she dealt with the shadow.
But at the same time, the day-to-day prosaicness of the events wore on me a little. The story was just a teeny bit dull. Not enough to make me stop reading, but enough that I wasn't as engaged as I would have liked.
There were also a couple too many coincidences of sorts at the end. And honestly, I kind of wish (view spoiler)[Kumiko had stayed dead, because I was genuinely mourning the shadow's win over her (hide spoiler)].
This is a sweet, poignant book, and I appreciate that it's about an old lady. But it's also a little slight. Still, the art is good, and I don't regret spending a day with Kumiko.
A week or so before Christmas, Charlie finds herself single and homeless, as her longtime boyfriend has taken up with his yoga instructor and an ex
A week or so before Christmas, Charlie finds herself single and homeless, as her longtime boyfriend has taken up with his yoga instructor and an explosion on the floor above leaves her London flat uninhabitable. Luckily, her cousin Jez has a spare room and could use some help running her dog kennel in rural Devon. Or not so luckily, since Charlie is not at all fond of dogs. Or the countryside. But a cranky vet and a very goodlooking owner of a boarding dog might spice things up ...
My friend Holly's review for this caught my eye, and I decided the heck with waiting until next Christmas and read it now.
I loved this book! It's just wonderfully comic -- James Herriott meets P.G. Wodehouse, with Charlie filling in for Bertie Wooster. I was guffawing on nearly every page. Charlie's take on herself and everyone else around her is honest, wry, and hilarious. The dogs are adorable. The situations in the story are absurd but sweet. And the romance is wonderfully understated and unpredictable. This book was just so much fun.
If you need a good laugh, don't save this book for the holiday season. ...more
Taylor Powell is $20k in debt and struggling to get momentum for Taylor'd Conditioning, her personal training business. But when Jamar "
4-1/2 stars
Taylor Powell is $20k in debt and struggling to get momentum for Taylor'd Conditioning, her personal training business. But when Jamar "Diesel" Dixon, former star running back for UT Austin and the Chicago Bears, hires her to help him make a return to the NFL after a devastating knee injury, her financial problems just might be solved. Except Jamar doesn't want anyone to know he's in training. So when they're seen together by a reporter, Taylor claims they're dating. They're definitely attracted to each other. But will their fake romance bring them together, or push them apart?
I grabbed this as soon as I saw that adorable cover. Turns out it's the second in a 3-part romance trilogy, and the first chapter left me a bit adrift as it kept referencing events from the first book. But once Taylor and Jamar met and this story got going, none of those missing pieces mattered much.
This was an all-around terrific romance. No alph-holes, no overly contorted conflict. I really liked both Jamar and Taylor. They were both decent, competent people with a realistic combination of self-esteem and insecurities. The subplots were well-done and meaningful. I enjoyed the question of what it meant to want to date in a coach/client relationship, and appreciated that the woman was the coach and the man the trainee, because there are plenty of actual women athletes married to their male coaches (a situation that makes me personally go "ugh" but that's great if it works for them) but I can't think of a single real-life couple where a man is married to his female coach. So I found that refreshing, and it helped keep the fake dating trope from feeling too stale.
Overall, this book was put together very well, even though I found it just a teeny bit long with a couple scenes/chapters that could have been cut and never missed. I loved Taylor and Jamar's interaction; both of them had charm and great senses of humor. I loved that this was a football romance without exactly being a football romance, since Taylor is also a tough athlete, and it's focused on training in general. I loved that Taylor is 3 years older than Jamar, but it's just mentioned in passing, not a big deal. I loved that the friendship between Taylor and her recently-acquired besties Samiah and London is as important to her as her romance with Jamar.
I plan to read the first book (Samiah's) because I enjoyed this so much (and I'm curious to get the backstory first-hand), and then I'll wait impatiently for London's story. I'm very happy to have found another positive, non-problematic romance writer I can look forward to reading. ...more
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