Ronincats Reads in 2020

Book #1 The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell (379 pp.)

I tried this just before Christmas and could not stomach the arch cuteness of it all. But Stephen (sirfurboy) liked it and we usually like similar things so I pulled it down last night from the library shelf and sped right through it (ha! Large font, lots of illustrations, wide margins). Still nearly unbearably cutesy, but I can see the 8 to 10 year-old set loving it, as they have demonstrably loved the How to Train Your Dragon series by the same author. It's a fantasy world, a forest where there are the magical Wizards and the matter-of-fact Warriors who are blood enemies, and the extinct (maybe?) Witches who threaten them all, and an unbearable 13-year-old son of the head Wizard and the similar-aged disappointingly unWarriorlike 7th daughter of the Warrior Queen encounter each other and all sorts of havoc break loose. First in a series, of course...



Book #2 Christmas Revels VI by Hannah Meredith (300 pp.)

I traditionally read some Regency Romance novellas at Christmas time and, although latish, this is one of two books of such that I picked up this year, and I finished up the last three of the four novellas yesterday. What can I say? These novellas at least have either original settings or premises, but of course must comply with the requirement that true love emerges in the course of a short story. An average collection for what it is, which is actually better than average for this type of book.

Welcome back, Roni! Nice to see the reading has started already too. :)

Thanks, Tania. Good to be back!

Goodness, I have been SO neglectful. Sorry!



Book #3 Spoilers: Things Get Worse by Galen Surlak-Ramsey (300 pp.)

And since it is an ER book, I wrote a formal review.

I received an ebook of this for the Early Reviewers, without reading the first book in the series.

That said, enough is said about the events of the last book in this one for me to have a pretty good idea of what went on and, since there isn't any character development, it doesn't really matter anyway. This is a non-stop sequence of crises, all action mostly avoiding whatever aliens are trying to kill the group at any given moment, with highly improbable escapes. The author attempts a light hand with some humor, but it mostly thunks and throws the reader out of the story, not that we're really invited into it as more than an audience anyhow. I have no sense that Dakota has any depth to her (or even that she is a woman) any more than any other of the characters, although it is clear the author is attempting to create a "kick-ass heroine". And I would refuse to be an AI in this story categorically!

If the author would stop trying to do so many things at once and concentrate on a story that one could care about, as opposed to mindless action entertainment, I think he could develop some potential.

Book #4 The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman (224 pp.)

This book just scratches an itch for me, I'm not sure why. I love it, though. Kind of a series of episodes about a Russian countess now poor New Yorker clairvoyant and her interaction with a police detective.



Book #5 The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle (230 pp.)

THIS is the book I intended to request when I got Hollow Kingdom last month, a very different work! This is another retelling of young women being kidnapped under Hill by the fae, but with some nice original variations and a good development of character. It will join The Perilous Gard and An Enchantment of Ravens as a favorite of this type of tale.

ETA: Spinning Silver is actually a related tale as well, but of a slightly different folk tale.



Book #6 The Science of Discworld: The Globe by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen (345 pp.)

This is the second of four books which intersperse wizard's antics with chapters discussing major and significant scientific concepts, such antics illustrating them. I found the first one very intelligent, though-provoking and entertaining, and this one is more of the same. My sister got me this and the last two for my birthday in November, so I am sure I will be working my way through the last two at some point this year.



Book #7 Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer (304 pp.)

I became aware of this book due to Joe's review of it in December, and ordered it from the library. I would never have picked up a Naomi Kritzer book on my own because I read the first one she ever wrote and it was one of those bloody religious persecution fantasies--well, here's a synopsis:
For sixteen-year-old Eliana, life at her conservatory of music is a pleasant interlude between youth and adulthood, with the hope of a prestigious Imperial Court appointment at the end. But beyond the conservatory walls is a land blighted by war and inexplicable famine and dominated by a fearsome religious order known as the Fedeli, who are systematically stamping out all traces of the land's old beliefs. Soon not even the conservatory walls can hold out reality. When one classmate is brutally killed by the Fedeli for clinging to the forbidden ways and another is kidnapped by the Circle--the mysterious and powerful mages who rule the land--Eliana can take no more. Especially not after she learns one of the Circle's most closely guarded secrets. Now, determined to escape the Circle's power, burning with rage at the Fedeli, and drawn herself to the beliefs of the Old Way, Eliana embarks on a treacherous journey to spread the truth. And what she finds shakes her to her core: a past destroyed, a future in doubt, and a desperate people in need of a leader--no matter how young or inexperienced. . . .

But--this one sounded completely different, and it is! Definitely YA, it's set in a very near-future setting where a 16 year old girl has accompanied her mother constantly on the run to keep her father from finding them for the last 11 years. Her only stable community is an internet group on Catnet. But as they settle into the newest community, something happens that puts her father on their trail and put Steph into immediate danger. Can her friends and the network admin (who just happens to be an AI--which isn't possible?) help her resolve the situation? I loved this. It had really good characterization, authentic settings, very serious considerations of the issues of domestic abuse and of the issue of aware artificial intelligence and of gender issues, all embedded in a really entertaining story. Highly recommended.

Book #8 Kaleidoscope by Dorothy Gilman (241 pp.)

This book, written 25 years after the first, continues the interwoven episodic stories of those who consult Madame Karitska for "readings" and is just as charming as the first.



Book #9 Dragonshadow by Elle Katharine White (384 pp.)

I really enjoyed the first book of this series as a reinterpretation in epic fantasy of Pride and Prejudice. This book moves away from its Austen roots in this second book, as is natural, but also loses some of the charm of the first. This may be in part because of the unrelenting danger and sense of doom that overlays the action (and the relative dearth of further characterization), which will not be resolved until, hopefully, the third book, which is on my tbr shelf but contrarily I will not read it right away because I need a break!

The Battle of North Fields is over—or so Aliza Bentaine, now a Daired, fervently wants to believe. But rumors are spreading of an unseen monster ravaging the isolated Castle Selwyn on the northern border of the kingdom. When she and Alastair are summoned from their honeymoon by the mysterious Lord Selwyn, they must travel with their dragon Akarra through the Tekari-infested Old Wilds of Arle to answer his call.

And they are not alone on this treacherous journey. Shadowing the dragonriders is an ancient evil, a harbinger of a dark danger of which the Worm was only a foretaste. And soon Aliza realizes the terrible truth: the real war is only beginning.

Book #10 Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (279 pp.)

This reread was stimulated by Kerry having it on her currently reading list--it's a comfort read that needs to be visited every few years. This is a delightful romp in, as the title says, an ancient China that never was.



Book #11 Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey (336 pp.)

A murder mystery set in a high school for students with magic potential--and not at ALL like Hogwarts. I thought this was smart, fast-paced, with good world-building. It's not particularly deep or insightful but hey, this is a murder mystery.

When a gruesome murder is discovered at The Osthorne Academy of Young Mages, where her estranged twin sister teaches Theoretical Magic, reluctant detective Ivy Gamble is pulled into the world of untold power and dangerous secrets. She will have to find a murderer and reclaim her sister―without losing herself. Amazon



Book #12 The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher (387 pp.)

Well, SOMEONE led me astray on this one. Whoever it was liked it, and T. Kingfisher is pretty much a must read for me, and I did NOT realize it was an adaptation of a pulp horror tale. The reason I don't do horror is because I have an active imagination and when I wake up at 1:30 in the morning, I don't get back to sleep until nearly 4, not because I'm afraid the creepy-crawlies are going to get me, but because the more macabre parts of the tale are running nonstop through my monkey brain. As usual, she tells a gripping story--had she not, the images would not have been so powerful, but SO not my cup of tea...

Book #13 Cast in Wisdom by Michelle Sagara (544 pp.)

Long time followers of my threads know that I am a big fan of this series, even as I recognize its weaknesses. This is #15 of the series, just came out Tuesday. I loved it, but the last two or three books have taken a long, long time to move the overall plot a miniscule distance. This one is basically a birdwalk from the main plot that takes 544 pages, none that I begrudge, mind you, and I love the Argon, but Michelle, let's get on with it.

Don't start here! Start with Cast in Shadow.



Book #14 Crown of Renewal by Elizabeth Moon (507 pp.)

Lucy (sybilline) was reading the final five book series in this 11 book set in Paksenarrion's world, a favorite of mine, and I couldn't resist rereading the final book. Don't start here; start with Sheepfarmer's Daughter to see if this mix of everyday detail with epic fantasy is for you.



Book #15 Close Kin by Clare B. Dunkle (336 pp.)

This is the second of the Hollow Kingdom trilogy, which I'd classify as YA fantasy. Two characters we met in the first book set out on personal quests. I still enjoy the goblin world-building but I am concerned about how little agency the women in these books have.

Book #16 Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't by Stephen Prothero (148 pp.)

I'm going to count this book read but only count the pages of his text. Once I got to the third section, which is a dictionary style laying out of terms and info he believes everyone should know, I skimmed to see if I could find anything new, and didn't. That just means this is an area I've done a lot of reading in. The historical information was what I was interested in.



Book #17 A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain (498 pp.)

This book was put on my wishlist by Julia (rosalita) back in 2016, and I had to wait a fair amount of time to get it from the library, so I suppose it is popular. I enjoyed it. An FBI profiler with family issues slips back in time in an English castle and has to deal with a serial killer in Regency England. Despite the gruesomeness of the murders, I had a lot of fun with the modern personality rubbing up against Regency mores. Totally unrealistic, I realize, in the support she gets, but once you suspend that belief, it's fun to see the protagonist get totally busted from lady's maid to kitchen worker and then promoted to lady's companion. And to see the beginnings of law enforcement with a competent Bow Street Runner and a competent surgeon despite the limitations of the time. Perhaps the incongruity between the seriousness of the murders and the comedy of manners is a greater problem, but Kendra is so intense and motivated to find the serial killer and protect the women being killed that she pulls us in. Brits have been irritated by unrealistic use of dialect but while I recognized the slang (thanks, Georgette), the accents are beyond my expertise so it didn't bother me. I see that this is now a series, and I don't know that I will continue, but I did enjoy this one.



Book #18 The Goblin Mirror by C. J. Cherryh (308 pp.)

It never ceases to amaze (and amuse) me that the very features that I LOVE in Cherryh's science fiction can be a source of frustration in her fantasy. The disjointedness, abrupt breaks, lack of context and multiple POVs break up the story--until, just like in her SF, she knits it all back together at the end. This is one I hadn't read before and the second of my Books Off My own Shelves for the year.

Book #19 In the Coils of the Snake by Clare B. Dunkle (232 pp.)

Had I still been a young adult when these were published in 2002-2005, I'm sure I would have loved them unreservedly. As it is, I continue to note the lack of agency for women in them, although I like the equal respect for both goblins and elves in the world-building.



Book #20 A Study in Honor by Claire O'Dell (296 pp.)

This is a book I picked up at Mysterious Galaxy last week solely because of the cover, knowing absolutely nothing about it. I found myself pulled into this near future dystopian US in the throes of a second civil war in the post-Trump era, and especially into the character of Janet Watson, a disabled veteran with PTSD and a faulty prosthetic that won't allow her to resume her work as a veteran, dealing with a funds-depleted VA bureaucracy and Washington DC at large as a black woman and getting pulled into a mystery about why soldiers from certain squads are dying or being murdered. Interestingly in terms of some other books being discussed at the moment, the author is a white woman, mentored by Tempest Bradford and Nisi Shawl in their workshop "Writing the Other". And then when I went to add it to my LT books, I found this blurb: "A Lambda Literary Award Finalist in Lesbian Mystery A selection in Parade's roundup of "25 Hottest Books of Summer 2018" A Paste Magazine's Most Anticipated 25 books of 2018 pick A Medium's Books pick for We Can't Wait to Read in 2018 list ". Anyhow, while I see some other LT reviewers have had their reservations, I found this a fascinating read and strongly recommend it.

Book #21 Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones (375 pp.)

Sandy was rereading this DWJ the other day, and I realized I remembered NOTHING about it. So I pulled it off my shelf. I probably read it 20 years ago when it was published and not since, as when I read it I still remembered nothing about it. It's a fun, light-hearted romp through British SFF conventions and good fun.



Book #22 A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djeli Clark (46 pp.)

This novella had been getting a lot of buzz and was only 99¢, so I got it and read it and it was good! Looking forward to more in this alternative world.



Book #23 Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher (400 pp.)

The difficulty with visiting the Kindle page is temptation, and I couldn't resist picking up the new Kingfisher book while I was there. Loved it, but warning that there is a lot of angst around the broken character of the two middle-aged protagonists and should they or shouldn't they. It's very entertaining, however!

Book #24 Unmarriageable: A Novel by Soniah Kamal (361 pp.)

My January ER win came this week, and I just finished it.

I loved this book! Being a huge Pride and Prejudice fan, I am justifiably wary of retellings, but this is the best I've ever read. The major reason is that the author has set the novel in a modern culture that right now reflects all the major social issues in Regency England in terms of class, money, and the options open to women. As she uses Austen's story to continue to explore these issues, she introduces us to the wealth of Pakistani culture (oh, the food!!) and postcolonial issues as well for a rich, compelling and entertaining story.



Book #25 The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark (143 pp.)

This novella takes place in the same alternative world as A Dead Djinn in Cairo (we actually get a cameo of the main character from that story) and is just as imaginative and entertaining. We just are left wishing there was more when this ends.

Book #26 Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven by Bella Forrest (402 pp.)

My Kindle has been promo-ing this book for months, claiming it as the next Harry Potter. Since I could get it for free, I finally did hoping that would stop the ads. It isn't the next Harry Potter. It's an adequate and not very original urban fantasy, the first of a series. Nuff said.



Book #27 Imaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire (431 pp.)

This is the 9th book of the InCryptid series, about the Price family and its protection of cryptids in North America. Each book has a POV character. This time, cousin Sarah the cuckoo is the primary character. Trying to return home to Oregon after 5 years spent recuperating from a major psychic event to save her cousin Verity and hide the Prices from the Covenant of Europe, Sarah is kidnapped by other cuckoos and forced onto the road to a metamorphosis that will destroy Earth as it sends the cuckoos on to another dimension. Warning: this is only the first half of the story and the rest will not be available until this time next year. This is not my favorite of McGuire's series, but it is innovative, creative and well-written so definitely worth reading.

Book #28 Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins by Bella Forrest (406 pp.)

Well, all I can say is thank goodness I didn't pay anything for these. Why is it that, in an established coven, a bunch of teenagers end up being the investigating force to counteract the evil sorceress trying to become a Child of Chaos and incidentally kill off our main protagonist? Aren't there any competent grownups in this group? Anyhow, too much teen angst, Mary-Sueism, and general lack of interest even with the books being set in San Diego--I'm not continuing the series regardless of the free books.



Book #29 The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (374 pp.)

This is a beautifully written portal fantasy (hence, the doors) set in an alternative 1913 USA where we look in on the life of 19 year-old January Scaller and join with her on a journey of self-discovery. The writing is lyrical and lends itself to the sense of the fantastical, but it also puts some distance between the protagonist and the reader, imho. It's also very imaginative and original, and in the end emotionally satisfying.
"I hope you will find the cracks in the world and wedge them wider, so the light of other suns shines through; I hope you will keep the world unruly, messy, full of strange magics; I hope you will run through every open Door and tell stories when you return."



Book #30 Comet Weather by Liz Williams (439 pp.)

This was the Early Reviewer book I won in January. I have enjoyed Liz Willams' books in the past, and admire how many different styles she can write effectively. I love her Inspector Chen books, fantasies set in a futuristic Singapore with active interchanges with Heaven and Hell (the Chinese versions, of course), and have also enjoyed The Poison Master. So I requested this one as soon as I saw it on the ER list.

This is a tale of 4 sisters and their rather unusual home in Somerset and the frictions between them as their mother has disappeared. It reminded me in some ways of Garden Spells but even more of the fantasy stories told by Alan Garner and Diana Wynne Jones in the way that the fantastical elements weave in and out of the everyday existence. Each of the sisters has POV chapters and if I have any criticism, it is that this contributed to a certain choppiness (but also wanting to know what was going to happen next) and not enough differentiation of the voices of the sisters. Other than that, I found it totally charming.

Book #31 Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard (340 pp.)

I had read two of de Bodard's novellas, The Tea Master and the Detective and In the Vanishers’ Palace, and when I saw this title for free during my trial of Kindle Unlimited, thought it was yet another. So I picked it up for a quick read. And it wasn't. But I won't complain, because this mystery set in a fantastical Aztec empire was thoroughly engrossing, fast moving, and entertaining. The High Priest of the Dead, Acatl, must solve the mystery, and quickly, when a highly-placed priestess is kidnapped out of her room by a magical construct because the primary suspect is his estranged brother. There are all kinds of twists and turns, as well as some world-changing moments, before all is known and resolved. Loved the character of Acatl, with all his insecurities and reticence, as he is pulled into the center of the political world as well as dysfunctional family dynamics. And the best part is there are two more books featuring Acatl and his world.



Book #32 The Gate that Locks the Tree by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (102 pp.)

A short work set on Surebleak during a blizzard regarding promises and the Tree. And cats, lots of cats. Entertaining for the Liaden enthusiast, not the place to start as it is just filling in some of the background.



Book #33 Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen (295 pp.)

Book 8 of The Royal Spyness light-hearted mystery series continues to entertain! Georgie accompanies her mother to the US and ends up in Hollywood, and of course there is another murder to solve.

Book #34 Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (444 pp.)

People have been talking a lot about this one and I can see why. Yes, there are a lot of classic fantasy plot elements but they are jumbled together in a very original setting, and the story line keeps you off-balance all the way in. Dark and violent but not gory, I'm definitely going to see where the author is going next in this trilogy.



Book #35 The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz (332 pp.)

foggidawn turned me on to this fun fantasy for the 8 to 13 age range, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just light fun as 12 year-old Clementine tries to keep the castle and farm going on as her father is engrossed in fighting off a curse and enemies gather.



Book #36 Echoes in Onyx by Sharon Shinn (363 pp.)

I tend to be a Sharon Shinn fan. I LOVE her Wrapt in Crystal and Summers at Castle Auburn, was pulled in by her Samaria series, and rather meh about the Twelve Houses series--only read two of them, but I've always been okay with her writing. However, this book just didn't work for me. The conceit of the echoes in a very traditional medieval fantasy setting had potential, but the character development just wasn't there and I kept putting the book down and going on to other things. Finally finished it last night. It's not bad, but just not for me--glad I didn't have to pay anything for it on my Kindle.

Book #37 A Woman of Consequence by Anna Dean (383 pp.)

This is the third of the Dido Kent Mysteries and I think it is the strongest yet. Set in Regency England, the environment and characters are absolutely true to their time. This mystery is intricately plotted; while there are no spoilers, clues are to be found aplenty throughout the story line. And I like Dido Kent more and more as a person as she deals with more adversity in this book.



Book #38 Wyrde and Wayward by Charlotte E. English (240 pp.)
Book #39 Wyrde and Wicked by Charlotte E. English (180 pp.)

This duo of ebooks is delightful frothy entertainment, Addams Family meets an alternative Regency England! Clever, non-sappy, and while there is attraction, no romance. Recommended for completely escapist reading entertainment.



Book #40 The Road to Farringale: Modern Magick 1 by Charlotte E. English (122 pp.)

I enjoyed the House of Werth duology above (>70) enough that I thought I'd try the first of this earlier series by the author that was for free on Amazon. Alas and alack, there was no comparison. At a mere 122 pages, this clone of Jodi Taylor's time travel series with a magical component had no depth and very nearly no interest as any roadblocks to the solution to the problem plaguing troll enclaves were neatly resolved with no effort on the part of the protagonists, and the characters were rudimentary at best. This 10 book series will not be read by me.

Book #41 The Chronicles of Amber: Vol. 1 by Roger Zelazny (338 pp.)

I know I read at least the first and probably more of the first five books of the Chronicles of Amber, but that was at nearly 50 years ago and I remember zilch. I'm counting these as new reads but will only count the actual 2 book set I picked up about 10 years ago--which makes them ROOTs or BOTS, in either case books off my own shelves.

This volume includes the first two books, Nine Princes in Amber and The Guns in Avalon. Corwin wakes up in a lock-down hospital with no memories, and the first book is pretty much about how he goes about regaining his memories and reestablishing connections with his brothers--including the one who crowns himself King of Amber and imprisons Corwin. The second book is about Corwin's plans for revenge, and an increasing incursion from the Courts of Chaos. These books are 50 and 48 years old respectively, and actually hold up pretty well over the years. I have the second volume with the next 3 books contained in it, acquired at the same time as this one, and will probably go ahead and read it next since it is fairly undemanding fantasy and means yet another BOTS off my shelves!! Since we are nearly a third of the way through the year and I've only read 3 off my shelves so far (counting this one), I definitely need to make up time here!



Book #42 The Chronicles of Amber: Vol. 2 by Roger Zelazny (434 pp.)

This contains the last three books of the original Chronicles of Amber: Sign of the Unicorn, The Hand of Oberon, and The Courts of Chaos. I don't think I got to them back in the 70s as I hadn't been too impressed with the first two, much preferring Lord of Light and The Doors of his Face, The Lamps of his Mouth. I like these much more, and perhaps it has to do with age as well, as I appreciated Corwin's ruminations and family concerns as much as the action.

Book #43 The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing the Sacred Texts by Karen Armstrong (431 pp.)

I will write a review of this book later, as I would like to do it in more depth than I feel up to at the moment. This has been my bathtub book for most of the month, for which it has been well-suited due to its length and density. Armstrong has done her usual scholarly but readable job of bringing together gobs of information and making sense of it and making a case for her thesis. She treats with scriptures of the three monotheistic religions as well as a number of different sects developing in India and China.



Book #44 Baker's Magic by Diane Zahler (337 pp.)

This came to my attention sometime over the last 4 years and so when I saw it for free on my Kindle Unlimited selections, I thought it would be a good light read after finishing the above. This is a children's fantasy, ages 9 to 12, sweet and with lots of happy endings but not very deep or original.

Book #45 Lessons in Enchantment by Patricia Rice (332 pp.)

Rice is evidently an prolific award-winning Romance writer. I received this ebook through the Early Reviewer program. This was an interesting-sounding Victorian fantasy with potential, but in the end, the Romance tropes did me in. The strong physical attraction at first meeting, the continued fantasies of both parties at odds with their established characters, and the obligatory explicit sexual interaction (2 of them) overwhelmed the possibilities of Edinburgh and atypical characters (one of the side characters is asexual, the male protagonist is a self-made man and the female protagonist is an unruly mess with interesting family). To me, it seemed like the author threw all the pieces together, gave them a stir, and spit them out without any depth or even, at times, probability. This Heyer lover was unable to stomach it with any pleasure.



DNF Undead and Uneasy by Mary Janice Davidson (45 pp.)

Just couldn't do it. I knew going in that it was the third of the series--it was a book I'd come by inadvertently--but honestly, I just couldn't deal with the angst of the first-person narrator. Too light, too frivolous, not worth putting in the time, for me.

Book #46 Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony Horwitz (417 pp)

With Spying on the South, the best-selling author of Confederates in the Attic returns to the South and the Civil War era for an epic adventure on the trail of America's greatest landscape architect. In the 1850s, the young Frederick Law Olmsted was adrift, a restless farmer and dreamer in search of a mission. He found it during an extraordinary journey, as an undercover correspondent in the South for the up-and-coming New York Times.

For the Connecticut Yankee, pen name "Yeoman," the South was alien, often hostile territory. Yet Olmsted traveled for 14 months, by horseback, steamboat, and stagecoach, seeking dialogue and common ground. His vivid dispatches about the lives and beliefs of Southerners were revelatory for readers of his day, and Yeoman's remarkable trek also reshaped the American landscape, as Olmsted sought to reform his own society by creating democratic spaces for the uplift of all. The result: Central Park and Olmsted's career as America's first and foremost landscape architect.

Tony Horwitz rediscovers Yeoman Olmsted amidst the discord and polarization of our own time. Is America still one country? In search of answers, and his own adventures, Horwitz follows Olmsted's tracks and often his mode of transport (including muleback): through Appalachia, down the Mississippi River, into bayou Louisiana, and across Texas to the contested Mexican borderland. Venturing far off beaten paths, Horwitz uncovers bracing vestiges and strange new mutations of the Cotton Kingdom. Horwitz's intrepid and often hilarious journey through an outsized American landscape is a masterpiece in the tradition of Great Plains, Bad Land, and the author's own classic, Confederates in the Attic.

417 pages NOT counting notes, bibliography and index, this was a very interesting combination of travelogue and history. I learned a lot, and learned a lot had not changed since Olmstead made his journey. For example, he had just come through East Texas, a very depressing place both then and now with very much the idea of "let me alone to do what I want to". And then he got to San Antonio and a settlement of immigrant German freethinkers--talk about a contrast! A newspaper editor in San Antonio who had been a Prussian judge told Olmstead this:

We view society as a congregation of men: whose aim it is to elevate the well being of the aggregate by the combined exertion. Americans, by contrast, look first upon themselves as private individuals, entitled to ask for all the rights and benefits of an organized community even to the detriment of the whole...

How true that still is, as highlighted by the varied responses to our pandemic.

Book #47 Changer by Jane Lindskold (499 pp.)

One of my favorite books was just right for a satisfying reread. This is why American Gods was only so-so for me; this story does it so much better.

Wild and unpredictable, brother to the sea, older than the creatures that walk the earth or swim in her waters, the Changer delights in countless shapes. When someone attempts to wipe out his family, the Changer discards coyote form and descends from the wilderness to call in a few favors from none other than King Arthur himself.
But Arthur has problems of his own. The Lustrum Review is about to meet and the tenuous accord that holds the athanor community in loose alliance is being challenged. Some of the challengers merely desire to see a few restrictions dropped. Others wish to see the Accord destroyed – and if Arthur and his closest allies are destroyed with it, they would be delighted.
For Arthur, the Changer’s arrival, ominous as it may be could also be a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate how the Accord serves even the most ancient among their immortal community. He also hopes that their alliance will serve to anchor this wild one more firmly to his cause.
Yet nothing is ever that simple. Before the Changer takes his revenge, those who have called themselves gods and have been the root of many a heroic legend will find themselves threatened with destruction. The very earth itself will shake. And a coyote pup―sole survivor of the Changer’s murdered family―will discover both her weakness and her hidden strength.

Pretty much caught up here. Still have to write the review for book #48. I'll try to keep up better!

Book #48 This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (209 pp.)

This was a very strange book. It's basically a love story between two entities that develops as they encounter each other up and down the time lines on opposite sides and grow to respect each other and then more. Told mostly through letters to each other sent by many original and creative means and media, since their superiors would view any contact with justifiable suspicion. The two authors apparently each took on one of the characters. Because of the structure, it was hard for me to lose myself in the story and, despite the sf trappings, it really is lyrical romantic writing for the most part. Points given for originality, points deleted for the lack of narrativium, verdict undecided.



DNF Bumblestook, Book One - The Accidental Wizard by Sheri McClure-Pitler (182 of 531 pp.)

This is evidently self-published through Amazon; I picked it up for free. It purports to be a Middle-Grade Fantasy Adventure--why would you write a 531 page book for that age group? Neither the title nor the author show up on LT. From Ammy:
A secret garden ceremony, an uninvited guest, a child's toy, and a wisp of hair send two innocent children on a perilous Quest.

Wizards, heroes and shape-changing Amorphae have hidden amongst ordinary Humans for eons. But when two Heroes seek to use an innocent Humanchild to circumvent their own daughter's fate, a magical backlash occurs and the boy accidentally becomes a Wizard!

Meet Farley Bumblestook! Born with the unique ability (once attributed to ancient Shamans) to commune with the Spirits of Earth itself, Farley is the not-so-ordinary Human boy-next-door. Through no fault of his own, his life becomes entangled in the power struggles between warring Wizards, and he is drawn into a dangerous Quest.

Bumblestook, the Accidental Wizard, chronicles the beginnings of the Legend of Bumblestook as Farley and his best friend, Fiona, set out to solve the mystery of his parents' disappearance. Along the way, they discover the world of Magic and unlock the secret of their own hidden talents.

Seamlessly blending Fantasy and Reality, Bumblestook is an Urban Fairy Tale. Set against a backdrop of natural wonders, it presents a world wherein mystery and magic lie just around the corner.

Containing over 30 full-color illustrations, the ebook version of Bumblestook is best viewed on a tablet, such as Kindle Fire.

I admit that at 182 pages I have not encountered any of the action yet (is there a problem here, author?) and so far I don't really care about any of the characters or the writing. Life is too short, so farewell!

Book #49 The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss (448 pp.)

Life’s always an adventure for the Athena Club...especially when one of their own has been kidnapped! After their thrilling European escapades rescuing Lucina van Helsing, Mary Jekyll and her friends return home to discover that their friend and kitchen maid Alice has vanished—and so has Mary's employer Sherlock Holmes!

As they race to find Alice and bring her home safely, they discover that Alice and Sherlock’s kidnapping are only one small part of a plot that threatens Queen Victoria, and the very future of the British Empire. Can Mary, Diana, Beatrice, Catherine, and Justine save their friends—and save England? Find out in the final installment of the fantastic and memorable Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club series.

I love this series. It is just fun, clever and vastly entertaining. When I saw this book was available as an ebook from the library, I grabbed it, even knowing I would have to read it on my Fire and not my Kindle.



Book #50 At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon (446 pp.)

I picked up used copies of the first four books of this series a year or two ago on the recommendation of a number of 75ers who love it. And it was a lovely, leisurely exploration of the people and places of Mitford, indeed. It reminds me of similar books, although set in England, by Elizabeth Goudge and Elizabeth Cadell that I used to read and reread in the 70s and 80s, where the people and their relationships and a certain transcendence shed a glow that was warm and comforting. I'll definitely move on to the next book shortly (and they are ROOTS to boot).



Book #51 Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen (304 pp.)

Thirty-fifth in line for the British throne, Lady Georgiana Rannoch becomes embroiled in royal wrongdoing in the ninth mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Crowned and Dangerous.

Caught between her high birth and empty purse, Georgie is relieved to receive a new assignment from the Queen. The King’s youngest son, George, is to wed Princess Marina of Greece, and the Queen wants Georgie to be her companion: showing her the best of London—and dispelling any rumors about George’s libertine history.

The prince is known for his many affairs with women as well as men—including the great songwriter Noel Coward. But things truly get complicated when one of his supposed mistresses is murdered.

The Queen wants the whole matter hushed. But as the case unfolds—and Georgie's beau Darcy, as always, turns up in the most unlikely of places—their investigation brings them precariously close to the prince himself.

Another series I thoroughly enjoy. I intended to read this in March for the theme read but then the library closed down. And then I found the ebook was available through the library. Now I'm forming the bad habit of reading the library ebooks instead of the other four physical library books I still need to get through or my own stacks. Although at least the Mitford book counts toward that!

Book #52 Broken Places & Outer Spaces by Nnedi Okorafor (96 pp.)

This was my mail order from Mysterious Galaxy to support them during this shut down. It's from Okorafor's TED talk about how failed surgery for scoliosis during college led to the breaking loose of her creative writing. Quite interesting.



Book #53 A Light in the Window by Jan Karon (

This book drug for me in the middle, when it was all letters and relationship, and it seemed more episodic that the first book.



Book #54 All Systems Red by Martha Wells (160 pp.)
Book #55 Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (160 pp.)
Book #56 Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (160 pp.)
Book #57 Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (176 pp.)

Just as good on this reread. Now I'm ready for the new novel!

Book #58 Network Effect by Martha Wells (346 pp.)

I continue to love this series! All you Murderbot fans, be sure to read this. Everyone else, what are you waiting for. Go get All Systems Red!!



Book #59 The Physicians of Vilnoc by Lois McMaster Bujold (127 pp.)

Penric's got a baby now!! And a plague on his hands at the army base, spreading to the village and then city. How timely! Good reading as always with Bujold.

So far behind, but I have to update now because...



Book #60 Changeling by Molly Harper (264 pp.)

When 14-year-old Sarah shows magical gifts in a Regency-like society where magic is firmly in charge and "Snipes" (like Muggles) serve the magically talented, she is quickly "adopted" by her Guardian family and sent to a Magical Academy for Young Ladies. This is the tale of her adjustment to her new life, fear of discovery, making of new friends, and thwarting an evil magical plot or two. Not poorly written (although a few editing errors) but obviously using really familiar tropes. However, there are indications that there are elements of social justice coming up so I may read the second in the series.



Book #61 All These Worlds by Dennis Taylor (282 pp.)

I read the first of these several years ago when they first appeared and loved it, but the second got so scattered story-wise as the Bobs proliferated that I lost momentum. But with the challenge this month and other people reading the series again, and especially since someone mentioned I could get it for free from Kindle Unlimited (where I am now enjoying a trial period), I decided to finish off the series. Still a problem with the multiple focus. Seriously, it's like looking through the multi-faceted eye of a housefly. But I appreciate how he tied all most of the threads off and especially the huge tip of the hat to E. E. Smith as he finished off the big baddies!



Book #62 Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (497 pp.)

I got a free ebook copy of this in January from I know not where--not Ammy, not ER, maybe Tor? Anyhow, despite it being labeled YA, I started it and yes, very YA in its two protagonists and the magic system a bit proliferant, with every kind of witch you can think of and some you can't, but I did get pulled into the story and the characters are growing and the author's got me curious about what is coming up, even if you know it is going to be the special two we are following against the Evil Warlord over several different arenas in the next two books. But she has made it interesting.

Book #63 The Med Series by Murray Leinster (380 pp.)

I am so suggestible. This series was reviewed on Tor.com and I couldn't resist pulling out my copy for a quick reread. Yes, it's been a while. See my comments above to Dejah. Not the best story-telling in the world but irresistible in this time of pandemic.

Now I will probably do a reread of Star Surgeon and then maybe the whole Sector General series.



Book #64 Star Surgeon by Alan Nourse (170 pp.)

I'd forgotten how there is relatively little medicine in this book compared to the political issues surrounding our pov character, Dal Timgar, the first alien to be admitted to, and graduate from, Hospital Earth medical schools. At 170 pages, this was typical length in the 50s and 60s and I used to chew through these Ace Science Fiction prints at a rate of one a day. The book was originally published in 1959, but mine is a 1986 re-issue.



Book #65 Hospital Station by James White (191 pp.)
Book #66 Star Surgeon by James White (160 pp.)
Book #67 Major Operation by James White (183 pp.)

These are the first three books in the Sector General series, books about the operation of a HUGE multi-species hospital in outer space, and of the problems in diagnosing and treating such a diverse population, some of whom have never been encountered before. The first two books were published in the early 60s and reflect some of the non-woke sexism of the times as well as their initial publications as short stories or serializations in the pulp magazines (mainly through the repetition of established facts or procedures of the hospital). By the third book, published in 1971, Nurse Murchison has become a pathologist and kept her own name when marrying a senior doctor. This is problem-solving science fiction that reflects the biases of its Northern Ireland author in its equal treatment of all aliens and pacifist approach to dealing with conflict.

Book #68 Love, Lies & Hocus Pocus: Beginnings by Lydia Sherrer (240 pp.)
Book #69 Love, Lies & Hocus Pocus: Revelations by Lydia Sherrer (288 pp.)
Book #70 Love, Lies & Hocus Pocus: Allies by Lydia Sherrer (347 pp.)
Book #71 Love, Lies & Hocus Pocus: Legends by Lydia Sherrer (341 pp.)

Okay, it is what it is. The author had a Facebook offer for 4 of her books, a series featuring a female librarian wizard, her disreputable witch friend, a talking cat and a lot of snark. All for $9.99 while each is $7.99 on Amazon. If I had loved the first, wouldn't I have kicked myself, hard, for not getting the set?

It was...okay. Nothing wrong with it, just typical average urban fantasy without much snark. I'm passing on the last two books in the series, which I would have to buy at regular price. I'm too old for this stuff--truly for a younger crowd, I think.

Book #72 False Value by Ben Aaronovitch (297 pp.)

Book 8 of the Rivers of London series. I love Peter Grant's voice almost as much as I love Murderbot's. This is a all-out police procedural involving an American software company that has relocated to London and the Mary Box that Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage created plans for. It is great! I loved it, so much fun. But read the whole series.



Book #73 Ambulance Ship by James White (192 pp.)

There were a number of Sector General books that I missed back in those pre-Internet days, and I think this was one of them. Our team has now been moved from the great hospital to an Ambulance Ship, designed to respond to distress signals in space. Each episode takes the ship to a different disaster with different problems that need to be solved. Still good stuff with such interesting aliens!



Book #74 Resting Witch Face by Rebecca Regnier (244 pp.)

Okay, another free ebook. This one is mostly set-up for the rest of the series about an almost-40 newly single woman returning to her home town in the Upper Michigan peninsula only to encounter both a murder (she's a reporter) and lots of supernatural creatures. Again, okay, but it didn't ring my bell.



Book #75 The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman (334 pp.)

Book 6 of the Invisible Library series, this is just a fun romp. Nothing deep but more layers that the ebooks above for sure. Irene and Kai are involved in a heist story involving both dragons and fae and of course mayhem ensues.

Book #76 Sector General by James White (196 pp.)

This book is a collection of four stories, all of the"encounter an alien(s) who is unconscious and presumably injured and figure out how to fix it" variety. This is starting to get a little old, despite considerable ingenuity, but fortunately the next book starts the full length novels in the series, allowing more depth and variety.



Book #77 Star Healer by James White (217 pp.)

The last novel in the second omnibus, Alien Emergencies, this is the first book written as a full-length novel. Conway is learning to deal with having 5 different species' educator tapes in his brain as well as dealing with a number of serious medical emergencies. Well, that's the only type Diagnosticians deal with, after all!



Book #78 The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (398 pp.)

Sweet. Charming--everyone says charming. But the life of the book is in the depiction of the children's characters. A good antidote to our world today.

Book #79 Code Blue--Emergency by James White (280 pp.)

White was originally going to end the series after Star Healer, the sixth in the series, where Conway reached his highest possible promotion. But his publisher pressed him for more, and he responded by having a non-human protagonist in the remaining stories. All of these later stories are written as full novels and lack the more episodic structure of the earlier books. This one traces the adventures and misadventures of Cho Thrat, the first of her species to come to Sector General as a student, and is tremendously entertaining in all respects.



Book #80 Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher (502 pp.)

This is the first of a five book series written between 2005 and 2010. I have the first three books, and have had the first since shortly after it came out. I tried to get into it once and stalled out four chapters in after bad things are happening to everyone. There's a group read of this series going on right now, which inspired me to move this off my Books on My Shelves. I made it my bathtub book which allowed me to read a chapter a day and space out all the dire circumstances that hit our viewpoint characters. About halfway in, I picked up the pace a bit at 2 chapters a day, even though a couple days ago at the end of Chapter 29 every single one of those characters were in the absolute direst of straits imaginable. Figured it could only go up from there. And I finished the first book today. It is good second-world fantasy, gritty but not straying too far from the classic tropes of medieval type political structure and with good characters that you learn to care for. I will be up for the second--after I finish some library books!!



Book #81 The Great American Deception by Scott Stein

This is a take-off on the great noir detective novels with a huge dose of word play and ridiculousness throw in. I'm not the target audience, I fear, and Arjay never really caught my fancy, but it's clever (too many footnotes) and a quick read. It takes place in the Great American Mall, which stretches coast to coast.

Book #82 Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling (194 pp.)

In the perfect bedtime reading, a mischievous imp called Puck delights two precocious youngsters with 10 magical fables about the hidden histories of Old England. Written especially for Kipling's own children, each enchanting myth is followed by a selection of the master storyteller's spirited poetry.
I did indeed read it on Midsummer Eve, although I did not call Puck by reenacting A Midsummer Night's Dream three times in a fairy circle.



Book #83 Sorcerous Rivalry by Kayleigh Nicol (294 pp.)

A Kindle Unlimited freebie that looked interesting. However, the POV character is a young, immature male mage and despite an interesting set-up and a well-developed m/m romantic theme, his character just didn't develop enough for me to invest in the plot.



Book #84 The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow (480 pp.)

I was very interested in the first part of the book, seeing P&P from Mary's perspective and how she came to be who she is in that book. The rest of the book was good--I can see the themes and situations carried on from Austen and Mary being who she is, don't expect the flashes of humour that Lizzie provided--but I feel that it could have been edited down considerably. Hadlow didn't need 480 pages to tell this story and I got impatient with the pacing in the second half. I have read Hadlow's other book (which I didn't realize when I picked this one up), which is a nonfiction account of George III and his wife and children, and thought it very informative and good, but this fictional novel doesn't need that degree of detail. And it bothered me that Mary was briskly walking all over Regency London on her own, when Georgette Heyer has made perfectly clear that one must be accompanied by a maid at least or ruin one's reputation!

Book #85 The Genocidal Healer by James White (219 pp.)

I am more and more impressed by these later Sector General books that I hadn't read, both this one and the previous one included in General Practice. The novel-length stories are much richer with more detail and depth of thought than the earlier books and deal with really interesting issues.



Book #86 The Galactic Gourmet by James White (288 pp.)

White returns to Sector General to tell the tale of the great Gurronsevas, a massive, six-legged alien of considerable dignity, who is the most renowned chef in all the galactic federation.
Chef? Just so. But now, at the peak of his career, Gurronsevas finds that fame, honor, and a large staff of scurrying minions aren't enough anymore. He wants to take on the greatest challenge of his professional life: making hospital food palatable.
And not just any hospital, either. Gurronsevas has come to Sector General. And interspecies understanding may never recover....

This one is a reread, and I enjoyed it just as much this time as the last time! And probably even more because, reading it in sequence, characters from the previous books have an additional depth and resonance that I would not have picked up on the first time.



Book #87 Final Diagnosis by Jame White (320 pp.)

This book refers not only to previous characters but to the events in Star Surgeon, the second book in the series. I love the way White ties in not only the characters but the plots of previous books and continues to develop novel and fascinating alien situations!

Book #88 The Little Grey Men by Denys Watkins-Pitchford (250 pp.)

This is the actual dust cover of my copy of this book, which was in my grandparents' bookcase when I went to visit them as a child. I brought it home a year or so ago from my mom's and had been meaning to reread it. Impetus given by the Juvenile July group read! This book was first publish in 1942, although the copy I have is from my birth year. It is a children's fantasy novel written by Denys Watkins-Pitchford under the nom de plume "BB" and illustrated by the author under his real name.It was first published by Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1942 and it has been reissued several times. Set in the English countryside, it features the adventures of four gnomes who may be the last of their race. At the same time it features the countryside during three seasons of the year.

Watkins-Pitchford won the 1942 Carnegie Medal recognizing The Little Grey Men as the year's best children's book by a British subject. It's pretty tame by today's standards, but will always be treasured by me for the sentimental connotations.



Book #89 Mind Changer by James White (301 pp.)

This reads like the final book of the series, although there will be one more. O'Mara, the chief other-species psychologist, has been there since Sector General was being built, a legend in his own time and behind the scenes in every book. But now he is appointed chief administrator, charged with choosing and then training his successor, and then retiring. Through a series of flashbacks interspersed with yet another medical mystery problem needing solving, we follow him throughout the history of Sector General, as well as dealing with the current-day issue. I didn't remember anything about the book except that when we reached the ultimate scene, I knew who and what it was and so must have read it before.

I will read the final book, featuring Dr. Prilicla, but this really reads like the culmination of the series and I am more impressed than ever before at what James White hath wrought.



Book #90 Double Contact by James White (311 pp.)

The Rhabwar, Sector General's ambulance ship, is sent out to investigate a distress call and ends up encountering not one but two first contact species. This book is narrated from Dr. Prilicla's POV and is as usual a highly imaginative adventure with original aliens, but I do have a fondness for the character of Sector General itself and miss it when we are off in space instead. This is the final book in the series.

Book #92 Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco (422 pp.)

This is either a really original take on fairy tales or a hot mess--perhaps a bit of both. What I loved: the immersion in Filipino culture especially at the beginning of the story, with the language and the food and the titas. As long as the story was focused on Tala in the small Arizona town where she and her family and the aunts and uncles live and in her high school, it was grounded and interesting. But when all the action centered in on her best friend Alex's being revealed as the hidden Crown Prince of Avalon, where both the government of the Royal States (having outlawed magic) and the Snow Queen Beira (whose attack on Avalon had resulted in its being frozen in ice) send forces to capture him. The rest of the book is a series of escapes and flight into Avalon to restore Alex to the throne, in the midst of a patchwork of fairy tale tropes from both Alice in Wonderland and traditional fairy tales, and devolves away from characterization to all action film. Add to that a deliberately ambiguous ending that clearly signals a sequel, and you may not want to invest the time and energy.



Book #93 The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison (448 pp.)

This is the new Addison book, out just one month, and I was the first in line at the library. If you are hoping for another book at all like The Goblin Emperor, you WILL be disappointed. If you are a Sherlock Holmes devotee, you will love the re-imagining of four of Holmes' signature cases in an alternative history that includes angels, hell hounds and werewolves. This was originally Holmes fanfic, reworked, and the author is a big fan of the Cumberbatch show so I understand there are a lot of allusions that I missed as well. Go into it expecting that and you will be entertained.



Book #94 Scharlette Doesn't Matter and Goes Time Travelling by Sam Bowring (360 pp.)

This is one of those Kindle books I could borrow for free and which promised completely mindless light fantasy/science fiction and pretty much delivers. Scharlette is having her usual bad day as a TSA screener when she gets kidnapped accidentally by a time traveller and, because she has absolutely no impact on history, he keeps her around through a constantly rebooting armageddon for the human race which pretty much consists of nonstop action of one sort or another. The author is an Australian comedian and the tone is sardonic and light. Okay for pandemic reading.

Book #95 A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (289 pp.)

This newest T. Kingfisher book came out last week. Light fantasy with some darker themes built in, as is usual with her books, and well-done as always.
Fourteen-year-old Mona isn't like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can't control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt's bakery making gingerbread men dance.

But Mona's life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona's city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona's worries…



Book #96 The Baron of Magister Valley by Steven Brust (448 pp.)

And this book was published Tuesday. This is the 6th of the Dragaera books told in Paarfi's voice, and while some grow impatient with the author's voice, I am rather amused by it.

Reader, you will undoubtedly have had the misfortune of consuming the rotten fruit of fallacies that we—Paarfi of Roundwood (esteemed historian of House of Hawk and exquisite artisan of truths)—“borrow” our factual recount of Dragaeran history from some obscure fellow who goes by the name Al Dumas or some silly nomenclature of that nature.

The salacious claims that The Baron of Magister Valley bears any resemblance to a certain nearly fictional narrative about an infamous count are unfounded (we do not dabble in tall tales. The occasional moderately stretched? Yes. But never tall).

Our tale is that of a nobleman who is betrayed by those he trusted, and subsequently imprisoned. After centuries of confinement, he contrives to escape and prepares to avenge himself against his betrayers.

A mirror image of The Count of Monte Cristo, vitrolic naysayers still grouse? Well, that is nearly and utterly false.



Book #97 The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H. G. Parry (452 pp.)

Karen put this book on my wishlist and the library got it to my branch rather quickly for curb pickup! This was not a book that absorbed me, maybe due to Rob's brother-relationship angst, although that turned out to be rather central to the story, and I often set it down for a day or two. But by the last third of the book I was fully into it and finished it quickly last night. This is an author who loves Dickens and your enjoyment will be enhanced if you also are familiar with him, especially David Copperfield, Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, but it isn't necessary. Nonetheless I feel I should warn Richard away. Rob's brother Charles is a summoner--he can call characters forth from books, and his family has spent his entire life protecting him from discovery. What happens when he discovers a street from Victorian England existing in an inter dimensional pocket in the middle of Wellington, New Zealand, and populated with such characters? And when there is an evil nemesis intent on changing reality? That's the book! An excellent first novel by this New Zealand writer.

Book #98 Love, One Regency Christmas by Arietta Richmond and others (646 pp.)

I read the first one of these five novellas back in January and never continued. I got tired of seeing it come up on my Kindle as currently reading every time I turned it on, and there was a Romance theme this month, so I took the opportunity to clear it off. Eh, it was okay. Decent stories, every single one of which conformed exactly to the customary tropes of regency romance fiction and which ended up being totally boring as a result.



Book #99 Magical Midlife Madness by K. F. Breene (376 pp.)

Romance theme, right, and a free read. And a protagonist who isn't a teen or twenty-someone. Promising, right? And it certainly was better than so many of those exceptional teenagers coming into their powers. Had some imaginative bits, set in wine country (!), no jumping into sex, a confident woman...but everything else is pure typical paranormal romance plot and, like the book above, that has become boring. I may still give the next a chance--it's free too and it's mind candy, which is what my brain handles best right now.



Book #100 The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin (437 pp.)

Now THIS is a book to submerge yourself in, to savor, to indulge! A paean, a celebration, an homage to the City of New York of the same richness as Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London) and Kate Griffin (Matthew Swift) have done for London.

The City of New York is preparing to be born as an aware entity, but the Enemy has sabotaged the process. Can the previously unaware avatars of the five boroughs come together and support the City itself? Fascinating. Read it!

Ta Da! There, I've done it!

Book #101 Magical Midlife Dating by K. F. Breene (336 pp.)

Okay, I read the second of the series because it also was free and I wanted some mind candy for yesterday's siesta. Again, not bad, better than the usual twenty-something heroine--I do like the protagonist--but I'm just really bored with paranormal tropes or really hard to please right now.



Book #102 Angel Mage by Garth Nix (536 pp.)

This is a very meaty fantasy, an homage to Alexandre Dumas and his Musketeers without at all being a retelling, and a stand-alone. I tend either to love Nix or be totally indifferent; this one took me some time to get into but ended up being worth the time and effort. Things that make books difficult to get into for me; 1) too much time in the villain's head and 2) too many viewpoint characters. Both of those were present, especially at first, but finally it gelled and began to move forward, the richer for the details.

But don't start with Nix here. Start with his masterpiece, The Abhorsen Trilogy, with Sabriel as the first book.

Book #103 The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (280 pp.)

This is what my "new" book looks like, also published in 1947, but NOT falling apart like the original.
The Little White Horse achieved some renewed fame in this century when it was revealed that it was a favorite and an inspiration for J. K. Rowling, resulting in what I hear was a VERY poor movie that in no way did it justice. There were also reprints in paperback and Kindle editions, so it became more available. It is a lovely fable, full of luscious language and glorious English settings, and I am rereading it because I've been meaning to do so for awhile, and this month's Juvenile July theme provided the impetus!

Book #104 Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher (534 pp.)

This is book 2 of a 6 book series. What Butcher has done in the first two books is throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at his main POV characters, and then have them pull out of it by the skin of their teeth at the end of the book. I can only read it a chapter at a time so it's been my bathtub book, up until the last few chapters which I have to finish in a rush.



Book #105 Touch of Power by Maria Snyder (392 pp.)

Snyder is a very popular author of fantasy series. I had read her Poison Study some time ago and not been particularly impressed. But I thought I'd try this series debut from the library. Book one seems fairly run of the mill plot-wise for so much of this fantasy but it was a quick read. I probably won't go on with the series though, as book 2 reportedly ends on a cliffhanger and I'm not a fan of that. YMMV though, because it seems very idiosyncratic which ones of this type of fantasy will end up with characters or worlds or plots that just pull you in. For example, I'm a BIG fan of the Elantra series by Michelle Sagara but I know it doesn't appeal as strongly to some other fantasy readers.

Book #106 The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (499 pp.)

This is a mood piece, lovely language, interludes and diversions, eddies and word pictures. Not to be read linearly, straight through, but to pick up and appreciate the pieces one by one.



Book #107 A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire (362 pp.)

It was the first week of September and the annual installment of the October Daye series came out right on schedule, so of course I had to get it and read it. This is my favorite series by McGuire, along with the Ghost Roads (Have I mentioned that book 3 of that series, Angel of the Overpass, is coming out next May?) and this was as usual an interesting and entertaining read, but start at the beginning, not here, if you are new to the series.



Book #108 Spellswept by Stephanie Burgis (90 pp.)

This is a prequel novella to the Harwood Spellbook series. I've read Snowspelled and Thornbound and still have the most recent book, Moontangled, to read. Magic in an alternative Regency England where Boadicea had defeated the Romans and tamed the Anglo-Saxons by use of said magic, resulting in a world where the women are politicians and magic is for the emotional men. Always fun.

Book #109 Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn (552 pp.)

This is the second in a Victorian mystery series featuring a well-drawn female protagonist in a very idiosyncratic family--we see more of the family in this book, as the widow is at the family home for Christmas. Very interesting mysteries as well.



Book #110 Trader's Leap by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (368 pp.)

Found out yesterday that this was available as an eARC at Baen Books and immediately bought it. It was SO good. Finally we are staying with a single story line throughout the book, with Shan and Priscilla, and the Dutiful Passage, as they try to establish new trade routes for Korval. I enjoyed it very much.

Book #111 Accepting the Lance by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (448 pp)
Book #112 Neogenesis by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (435 pp)

Well, I went back a book from Trader's Leap to refresh my memory of what went on with Shan and Padi prior to it, and it turns out that that event is yet another book back. And then I went another book back, because it wasn't here either. I'll try one more! This was a good refresh, though, of what was going on with everyone else.



Book #113 Mantivore Dreams by S. J. Higbee

This was a freebie Kindle book. I liked the first part primarily due to the world-building but it succumbed to all the typical tropes of YA fiction as it went on, which has become tiresome to me.

Book #114 The Gathering Edge by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (352 pp)

Well, it turns out this isn't the book either...



Book #115 Alliance of Equals by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (344 pp)

At LAST!! This is the book where we last left Shan and Priscilla and Padi! Four years ago, so there's a reason why the details weren't clear!! So if you want to be prepared before, er, leaping into Trader's Leap, this is the one to revisit. Still, visiting the Liaden Universe is never a chore.

Book #116 Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen (315 pp.)

These are so silly but so much fun. Just what the doctor ordered. But this is #10, so start at the beginning!



Book #117 The Wizard's Butler by Nathan Lowell (500 pp.)

Amazon has been pushing this Kindle Unlimited freebie (loan) at me for months. Given the unprepossessing cover and my general opinion of most of the free books offered, I have been resisting, but when I saw Silverwolf had read it and asked for their opinion, it was good. So I read it yesterday. And yes, I did like it verra much, thank you.

This is urban fantasy without the urban fantasy tropes. A 30 something man, veteran of 3 Afghanistan tours and an EMT who was fired after 2 years for punching out a man abusing his wife, is looking for a job. The agency sets him up with a couple who want him to look after an elderly uncle for a year, until they can have him declared incompetent, move him to assisted living, and sell his lovely historic home for condos. Roger is actually a guy with some integrity, but after meeting the uncle, he likes him and agrees to be his "butler". Which mostly consists of picking up, cooking and serving meals, but is done strictly by the traditional butler code (and dress). Turns out cleaning and yardwork is taken care of by the pixies and fairies, so maintaining the huge old house is not beyond him. Most of the book deals with his coming to terms with his charge being a wizard and magic existing, and foiling the plot of his niece to get control of the house. I liked the good solid relationships, the details of butlering, and the characters. A nice change from so much copycat urban fantasy. And Lowell has written a space opera series, earlier work, so i'm going to check that out as well.

Book #118 The Lord of Stariel by A. J. Lancaster (319 pp.)

First of a YA trilogy, I hoped for more at first as Hetta is older and more sophisticated when she returns home at her father's death and is unexpectedly anointed by the family Star Stone as the lord of Stariel. This first book is mostly about her dealing with this unwelcome event, as well as setting up the confrontations with Faerie that will be the center of the next book. It was a freebie and the next two are as well--I am undecided as yet as to whether I will continue.

The Wizard's Butler established that author Nathan Lowell loves his detail. In that book, it is actually soothing to have this fairly low drama settling in bit by bit. So I went to his initial space opera series, Trader's Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, which also is included with Kindle Unlimited.



Book #119 Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell (250 pp.)
Book #120 Half Share by Nathan Lowell (235 pp.)
Book #121 Full Share by Nathan Lowell (268 pp.)
Book #122 Double Share by Nathan Lowell (332 pp.)
Book #123 Captain's Share by Nathan Lowell (420 pp.)

Ships in Space!! These are clearly inspired by the famous and well-beloved Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian and the Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forester, both set in the Age of Sail during the Napoleonic Wars. No wars here, these are trading ships, but the ship discipline is very similar. We follow Ishmael from his first posting as an 18-year-old on the ship Lois McKendrick through his promotions up to captaincy. There are more books, but I think I will stop here for the time being. These are also all included in Kindle Unlimited.

Okay, these are fun (the first sentence of each book is a quote from a famous piece of literature, staring with "Call me Ishmael" for the first book) but you have to suspend disbelief because Ishmael is truly the ultimate Mary Sue. Everyone he interacts with comes out stronger and better-adjusted, he turns trouble-making crew and unmotivated officers around in short order, he is surrounded by powerful and gorgeous women officers (although he never has sex with someone on his own ship (and the sex isn't explicit when he does have it)) even though he is only an 18 year old lad, he passes tests to qualify for higher ratings at a meteoric rate, as a new officer (age 24 or so) he successfully takes out a sadistic first mate and on his first assignment as captain, he takes the worst ship in the fleet and turns it around in a single voyage, yadda yadda yadda. Loads of detail about ship life, mess detail, meals, and so on. And yet, it is a nice escape from the world around us this week.

Book #124 Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis (70 pp.)

This short work deals with the aftermath of Thornbound and how it affects Juliana and Caroline's secret engagement. It is pretty slight and definitely not to be read unless you have read the prior book.



Book #125 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (220 pp.)

A re-read getting ready for the new book coming out a week from tomorrow! I'll be reading the next four in the series over that week.



Book #126 Renegade Magic by Stephanie Burgis (331 pp.)

Magic in Regency England, fun, but 12 year old Kat gets really irritating along the way.

Book #127 Owner's Share by Nathan Lowell (575 pp.)

Book 6 of the series shakes things up again, but of course our protagonist works everything out. Except at the end where a tragic death throws him completely out of the set-up to which we have become accustomed and sets up the next trilogy. Still interesting and good pandemic reading because not particularly challenging.



Book #128 In Ashes Born by Nathan Lowell (308 pp.)
Book #129 To Fire Called by Nathan Lowell (330 pp.)
Book #130 By Darkness Forged by Nathan Lowell (340 pp.)

Ishmael hooks up with old friend Pip and they head out of company owned space into the Deep Dark. New venue, lots of old friends. Mystery and skullduggery. End of books featuring Ishmael as main character. BUT there are three more featuring the two women officers who join Ishmael's crew at the end of the last book, set prior to that event, AND another three set up on a planet Ishmael visited early in his career with completely different characters. Will I continue or not?

>131 A Deadly Education: A Novel by Naomi Novik (336 pp.)

So, at 9:00 last night, Pacific time, this book dropped onto my Kindle as it was released for publication--and I immediately started it. Reluctantly put it aside at 11:45 since I had to get up early to be at the DMV at 8 in the morning. Finished it just before 1 this afternoon after 2 hours at the DMV and stops for an early lunch (shrimp burrito). And I'm glad I paid the full price for the Kindle rather than waiting for the library copy down the line (currently 18 holds, no ordered copies in yet). Novik just gets better and better as an author. While I loved the first Temeraire book, I bogged down in the third and never finished the series. I liked Uprooted but thought it uneven in places. I loved Spinning Silver for its story-telling and its depth! And now...

Think Gideon the Ninth meets Harry Potter. Think Hogwarts meets H. P. Lovecraft. Think the best of all these worlds and then go out and read this one NOW!!



Book #132 The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (362 pp.)

Continuing my re-read of the series to be ready for the new one next Tuesday! Start at the beginning! Can't review plot without spoilers for The Thief.



Book #133 The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories by Terry Pratchett (243 pp.)

These are early stories written by Pratchett as a teenager and now gathered together. Definitely for 8-10 year olds, whimsical with a few touches of his later genius (like footnotes) but otherwise unremarkable and only for completists.

Book #134 The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (410 pp.)
Book #135 Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner (339 pp.)

More rereads in preparation for the arrival of the final and sixth book in the series last night.



Book #136 Ravenwood by Nathan Lowell (353 pp.)
Book #137 Zypheria's Call by Nathan Lowell (356 pp.)
Book #138 The Hermit of Lammas Wood by Nathan Lowell (314 pp.)

This is a three book fantasy series by Lowell, author of all the space opera I just read, featuring a 54 year old woman going through menopause in a somewhat medieval-ish fantasy world. As with all of his books so far, enjoyable reading, straightforward, no brain damage, good pandemic fare. The guy has this thing about food and food preparation, though; shows up in all his books, but I don't mind at all.

Book #139 A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner (341 pp.)

The last of the rereads.



Book #140 Superior: The return of race science by Angela Saini (207 pp.)

A goodly part of my profession was the measurement of cognitive abilities. I thought Saini did an excellent job here!



Book #141 An Assembly Such as This by Pamela Aidan (288 pp.)

The first third of Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's POV. Better than I expected, actually, and free, so I may continue with the rest of the trilogy.

Book #142 The Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (459 pp.)

I got through about a third of the book last night and then finished it up this afternoon after our trip to Home Depot. Very much a worthy conclusion to the series! No spoilers!



Book #143 The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo (121 pp.)

The library had a print version of this Tor novella, fortunately for me, and I greatly enjoyed it. Beautiful imagery and what a way to tell a story! You should check it out!

Book 144 Milk Run by Nathan Lowell (345 pp.)
Book 145 Suicide Run by Nathan Lowell (351 pp.)
Book 146 Home Run by Nathan Lowell (441 pp.)

These take place fairly contemporaneously with the Ishmael Wang books I've read (all 9 of them) and end up with the two female protagonists of this series almost at the place where we meet them at the end of the 9th book above (By Darkness Forged). Other than a very improbable start that puts the protagonists where they need to be for story purposes and which is then for all intents and purposes forgotten, this continues to be entertaining space opera in the same universe as the prior books. We learn a lot more about Toe-Hold space and the people who live and work there.

Book #147 Masquerade in Lodi by Lois McMaster Bujold (103 pp.)

I realized while adding this to my spreadsheet for 2020 that this is the first Bujold I've read this calendar year! Always good to see more of Penric and Des, but I confess that this novella length always leaves me wanting more!

Book # 148 A Light in the Dark by Nathan Lowell (78 pp.)

This short work is backstory on the origins of a space station alluded to in the Solar Clipper series. Good enough--but short stories just leave me wanting more!



Book #149 The Emperor's Wolves by Michelle Sagara (434 pp.)

Those who have followed me know that I love Sagara's Elantra series, starting with Cast in Shadow. So I was excited when she started a new companion series following Severn, an important character in that series, and learning more about another branch of law enforcement in this world, the Wolves. BUT the first half of the book was so BORING! All talk and no action to speak of. It did pick up in the latter half, but will never be a favorite.



Book #150 The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix (398 pp.)

This book, on the other hand, is what the best of YA fiction should be! What fun! Woven out of a potpourri of classic English children's books (Lloyd Alexander, Susan Cooper, Alan Garner and more!) and with loads of cameo appearances by other favorite books and authors, this story weaves them into a completely original framework where the booksellers of London, tasked with interfacing New England with Old England (and its denizens) become involved with solving the mystery of Susan, who just wants to find who her dad is and then start art school in London. Well done!

Book #151 The Demon and the City by Liz Williams (384 pp.)

Second in the Detective Inspector Chen series of 5, these books are set in a futuristic Singapore where one interacts with the denizens of both the Chinese heaven and hell. Focusing more on the activities and character of demonic vice cop Zhu Irzhs, this is a follow-up to Williams' first book in this world. This is a reread--and this is the point where I went to look at my spreadsheet and discovered I had not recorded my re-reading of the first book earlier in October!!



Book #152 Snake Agent by Liz Williams (412 pp.)

When the fourteen-year-old daughter of Singapore Three’s most prominent industrialist dies of anorexia, her parents assume that Pearl’s suffering has come to an end. But somewhere along the way to the Celestial Shores, Pearl’s soul is waylaid, lured by an unknown force to the gates of Hell. To save their daughter from eternal banishment, they come to Detective Inspector Wei Chen, whose jurisdiction lies between this world and the next.
A round-faced cop who is as serious as his beat is strange, Chen has a demon for a wife and a comfort with the supernatural that most mortals cannot match. But finding Pearl Tang will take him further into the abyss than ever before—to a mystifying place where he will have to cooperate with a demonic detective if he wants to survive. It’s easy, Chen will find, to get into Hell. The hard part is getting out.



Book #153 Jane of Austin by Hillary Manton Lodge (312 pp.)

A light romance, based loosely on Sense and Sensibility, and with the Marianne character's POV. Frothy entertainment.

Book #154 A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny with illustrations by Gahan Wilson

This book is designed to be (re)read one day at a time, with a journal entry for each day in October. I had been doing so up until the 23rd, but then finished all at once the night before my sister and nephew left so I could send it with her as she had never read it. It is a delightful mashup of horror characters and plots in the hands of a master--it was Zelazny's final book. If you have never read it, DO SO!!

Book #155 Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold (109 pp.)
Book #156 Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold (160 pp.)
Book #157 Penric's Fox by Lois McMaster Bujold (113 pp.)
Book #158 Penric's Mission by Lois McMaster Bujold (264 pp.)
Book #159 Mira's Last Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold (87 pp.)
Book #160 The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois McMaster Bujold (139 pp.)

I also finished up my bathroom book.



Book #161 The Science of Discworld: Darwin's Watch by Terry Pratchett, Jack Cohen, Ian Stewart (335 pp.)

This interspersing of the wizards' antics with their creation Roundworld and descriptions of the actual physics involved is both amusing and informative.

Book #162 Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings (259 pp.)
Book #163 Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings (326 pp.)
Book #164 Magician's Gambit by David Eddings (307 pp.)
Book #165 Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings (375 pp.)
Book #166 Enchanters' End Game by David Eddings (375 pp.)

I've read through the Belgariad (these five books), the Mallorean (a sequel five books), Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress (these two cover the whole sequence of the events in the first 10 books from the title characters' POVs) more than once, but just the first five will do for me this time. Good solid epic fantasy with interesting characters and world-building.



Book #167 The Home Edit Life by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin (253 pp.)

Lots of pretty pictures but very little meat. Glad this one was a library loan. But it was a quick read with all the pictures.

Book #168 Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh (112 pp.)

A nicely written novella steeped in English lore!



Book #169 The Archive of the Forgotten by A. J. Hackwith (353 pp.)

Second in the Hell's Library series, these books have a lot of relationship angst but are a lot of fun and very imaginative.



Book #170 The Shaman of Karres by Eric Flint (292 pp.)

Flint together with other authors continues his sequels to James Schmidt's delightful The Witches of Karres. These are low-scale entertainment, appropriate for light reading.

Book #171 The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (483 pp.)

I just love Maia's story, his decency and compassion, SO much! It's always a comfort to me to read.

And then I started a project of rereading the Finishing School series of 4 books--I have them in hardback and intend to donate them to the middle school next door if appropriate. I think these four are okay, but Carriger has some more adult themes and activities in much of her other work. Anyhow, I've been intending, as I said, to reread them and be sure there's nothing there too risque for middle schoolers before I donate them.



Book #172 Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger (307 pp.)

This is the first in a YA prequel series to The Parasol Protectorate books and introduces both the world-building and some characters that show up later. Light, fun, perfect for right now.



Books # 173, 174, 175 Curtsies and Conspiracies, Waistcoats & Weaponry, Manners & Mutiny by Gail Carriger (310, 298, 326 pages)

Still light, clever fun, perfect for my mood right now.



Book #176 Soulless by Gail Carriger (357 pages)

First book she wrote in this universe, made her reputation. Alternative steampunk in Victorian England set 20 years after the prequel series. Lots of tongue-in-cheek jabs at high society as well as scientist villains. Going to continue with the next four.

Book #177 On Deep History and the Brain by Daniel Lord Smail (202 pp.)

Mostly for fellow historians, this had some interesting ideas but overall probably not for us masses.



Book #178 Changeless by Gail Carriger (374 pp.)
Book #179 Blameless by Gail Carriger (355 pp.)
Book #180 Heartless by Gail Carriger (374 pp.)
Book #181 Timeless by Gail Carriger (386 pp.)

Completed the original quintet. These are fun and snarky, mind candy indeed.

Book #182 Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt (323 pp.)

An important chronicle of the development of a cadre of female computers from the beginning days of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, and their contributions to the development of rocket propulsion systems and exploratory probes for the solar system. Not particularly well-written or compelling, but lots of critical information, with some sense of the lives and the voices of the women who created perhaps the only environment mentoring the development of woman engineers over that time.



Book #183 Temporary by Hilary Leichter (184 pp.)

This was seriously weird. I can admire the craft building up to the ending while still not liking the effort it took to get there. I finished it because it was short and I moved it to my bathtub book, which its short episodic chapters suited.