👑👸⚔️🤴👑 Perhaps Too Much Fantasy?

 

        I am getting wrapped up in Romantasy, and I regret reading Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry because it is the first of a trilogy. The second one won't be released until spring 2026. 

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I found the book captivating with a dynamic plot and an evolving, strong female protagonist. A neglected, disregarded princess is chosen over her promised sister to be a Sparrow Bride. The kingdoms on the continent force peace among prone-to-war kingdoms by exchanging a king's daughter to be the next queen and produce an heir. This sets up an enemies-to-lovers situation, but Perry slyly keeps her readers guessing. It is told in the first person by Princess Odessa and gives an urgency and tension. I liked the book and look forward to reading the sequels; however, this book won't challenge any conceptions about life or the patriarchy. It is formulaic, but it uses the formula well. 

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    Robert Jackson Bennett writes science fiction that is both entertaining and thinky-thinky. He has won the Edgar Award, and I hope he also receives a Hugo, because he deserves it. He reminds me of Adrian Tchaikovsky, the author of the Children of Time series. A Drop of Corruption continues the adventures of Ana and Din, a detective duo akin to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The series is a high fantasy, well-crafted, believable world facing enormous challenges from invading leviathans and internal corruption. The world is a layered empire that is gritty, messy, and brilliant as it wrestles with petty bureaucrats, the vengeful oppressed, arrogant rulers, and those trying to make sense of it.

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   Contains spoilers! Not my first time reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, but each time I get pulled into the story. I can't wait to find out if, once again, Marianne will recover from the dreadful blow dealt her by Willoughby, if Elinor can bear the weight of losing her true love, and if the Dashwood women will survive in their reduced circumstances. I don't ever remember reading the scene where Willoughby comes, drunk, because he hears Marianne is dying, and gives Elinor his excuses for his behavior. What a selfish cad! 

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🦑🌆🌊Two Five Star Books in One Week! 🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟

 

    I was intimidated by City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett because it was a big book. Every word is needed to build Bennett's fantastic world. The book stands alone quite well, even though it is the first of a trilogy. It reminds me of The Expanse series, but as a fantasy. There is political intrigue wrapped up with spies, revolutionaries, former conquerors, and the now triumphant, but once enslaved. Many characters have big feelings about this reversal of fortunes and wrongs committed in the past. At the heart of the story is Shara Thivani, a covert operative who has come to investigate the murder of her mentor, but she discovers much more. I'm giving the book five stars on Goodreads — rare for me — but it is excellent in its plot, characters, setting, and ideas. 

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    I read Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson in a day. The story and characters were captivation and lovely. 32-year-old Mad runs an organic farm in Tennessee with her single mother. Her dad left when she was twelve, and it has frozen her in place, unable to leave her mother alone to carry on the farm, and unwilling to allow anyone close enough to hurt her like her father did. One Saturday, a man in his 40s comes to her farm stand and tells her his her half-brother. He invites her to go with him to find their father. It gets weirder, but in the best way. 

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🩶🍎🐍🍎🩶 T. Kingfisher's Latest 🎉🥳

I was fortunate enough to read  Hemlock & Silver the week it was released. T. Kingfisher is a favorite of mine. Her heroines tend to be middle-aged, intelligent women who are brave enough to step into a difficult situation and savvy enough to know there might not be a happy ending. Her latest book is a retelling of Snow White. There are lots of mirrors, poison, apples, an evil queen, a young girl in danger, and much more. Kingfisher's plot tend to be edgy with elements of horror. I don't consider myself a horror fan, but it does perk up the suspense and keeps things spicy in Hemlock & Silver. I'm not the best at predictions, but I think this will be considered for Goodreads' fantasy book of the year. I'll vote for it!

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    What Time the Sexton's Spade doth Rust by Alan Bradley is the 11th in the Flavia de Luce Mystery series. I was surprised to see it because #10, published five years ago, was the series finale. I'm not sure why Alan Bradley picked the series back up, but I have thoughts.

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The plot is a hot mess. Agatha Christie wrote some Hercule Poirot mysteries about a secret society, known as the Big Four, perhaps? There were not her best work. And this book was not Alan Bradley's best either, for much the same reasons. If you like the series, and I do, it is agreeable to revisit a child who reminds me a lot of Wednesday Addams. She is now twelve and is starting to wonder what her life will become as an adult. I like Flavia, who is creepy, intelligent, and somewhat naive. I think the plot would be more effective if it focused on murders in her village; however, I did enjoy catching up with the residents of Buckshaw.

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🐌🐚🌪️😵‍💫🌀 I Read Horror Manga on the Advice of a 15-year-old. Big Mistake or Bad Idea?

    My 15-year-old grandson recommended the Manga Uzumaki by Junji Ito. It is a creepy story of how the image of a spiral slowly drives an entire town into horrible, horrible behavior. So sinister. That said, the images were arresting. Junji Ito is a talented storyteller and artist. He explores various types of spirals, including staircases, snail shells, whirlwinds, and more. If you like Manga and horror, have I got a book for you!

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    I have been reading Abby Jimenez this summer and enjoying it. Life's Too Short (The Friend Zone #3) became available this week. This book is both a standalone and also contains characters from other books. That made it a fun scavenger hunt of looking for past characters. Jimenez gives her character steep growth curves of troubles in the form of family, health, and toxic coping methods. The meet-cute is a famous YouTuber, Vanessa Price, and her baby niece is keeping her hot attorney neighbor up. Adrian Copeland comes to complain and ends up holding the baby so she can take a shower. Vanessa opens the eyes of this workaholic to the idea that there's more to life, and he challenges her live-in-the-moment philosophy. As always, there is a dog. 

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I fell down an Emily Wilde's rabbit hole and read both book 2, Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, and book 3, Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales. I like the first book, but I really like the second book better. The third and final book of the series provided a satisfactory ending. I was surprised that both books were available on Libby, as I thought I would be on a waiting list. Heather Fawcett has created a delightfully academic (nerdy) heroine. There is a romance that compels the book, but what stands out is Emily. She is usually the one doing the rescuing due to her extensive studies, a strong moral compass, and her compassion for the underdog, as well as her bravery. The book doesn't describe her as wearing glasses, but in my mind, she does. This is a solid, likable fantasy series.

🧚‍♀️🤓📖📚🧚‍♂️

    I have been reading Martha Grimes for over thirty years, so we are both mature. The Red Queen is the most recent in the Richard Jury Mystery series. Because I have known the two main characters, Richard Jury, a Scotland Yard Detective, and his good friend, Melrose Plant, the talented amateur who can get into places Jury can't. Grimes has a knack for quirky, memorable characters that recur. In many ways, she reminds me of Louis Penny. The Red Queen's plot wasn't as tight as that of previous books, but it featured interesting backstories for two essential side characters. I wonder if this will be the last mystery in the series.

https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Martha+Grimes

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🥹😭 👽🧚‍♂️Frederik Backman Wrecks ME! Sci-fy and Fairies to the Rescue

    I'm having a Frerik Backman week. My Friends is his latest novel. Backman's stories break hearts, offering a front-row seat to the sadness and abuse in the world. Then he brings together damaged opposites who help each other heal. He writes what it feels like to be an anxious person so well that it makes me anxious.

"People say that anxiety is fear for no reason, but Ted's brain is very helpful when it comes to providing suggestions. Once he read a book that said that people with neuropsychiatric disorders need to "make friends with their brain," but Ted and Ted's brain are not friends, they're classmates, forced to do a group assignment called "life" together. And it's not going great."
― Fredrik Backman, My Friends

He has a gift for descriptive metaphors that provoke giggles. 

"The birds are like tourists. They screech and make a mess, but you're not allowed to shoot them…"

Backman's stories pierce and penetrate, giving incentive to care more about those you love and those who are unloved.

😭🎨🖌️👨‍🎤🥹

    The Answer is No, by Fredrik Backman, translated by Elizabeth Denoma, is short and sweet. Backman takes the absurd and makes it plausible, such as a woman pretending to be in a coma and hiding from her family at her doctor's apartment. Or a trash pile being declared a hill to keep it from becoming the city's problem. Or a Facebook group that believes in angels showing up to worship a neighbor. For only 60 pages, Backman creates beautiful chaos.

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    Infinite Archive is the third book in The Midsolar Murders series by Mur Lafferty. They are a great mash-up of mystery and science fiction. I would like to tour Lafferty's brain because her plots are clever and inventive, bordering on wacky, and the characters she invents, like aliens made of rock and space ships that are the internet, are captivating. Her large cast of characters behaves questionably — a key element to a mystery series, with numerous potential victims and suspects. Infinet Archive has space babies and cats! Win!

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        After reading the emotional rollercoaster that is Frederick Backman, I was ready for something enjoyable and escapist. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries was perfect. Emily Wilde is a professor at Cambridge in the field of faeries — she is a dyriadologist. She travels to a faraway island in Norway to study the elusive frost faeries, where she is followed by her Cambridge rival,  handsome Wendell Brambleby, who leads a charmed life as the head of the department. His students are always eager to do whatever he asks, making research and field work more of a vacation than a chore. Emily is a grumpy, thorough scholar who struggles with the niceties of social interaction. She inadvertently offends the insular inhabitants of Hrafnsvik, Ljosland, forcing her to accept help from Bramblely. There is much to discover and learn, but she can be her biggest impediment. 

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🐯🪄🦹‍♀️ Much Magical Realism

 

    Recommended by my daughter Noelle (linktr.ee/NMcManusArt), I started reading another book by Yangsze Choo, The Night Tiger. Last week, I read The Fox Wife, and it was a fantastic book:  several-excellent-books.html. The Night Tiger is equally excellent. It contains so much and could be categorized as historical fiction — it takes place in the 1930s, incorporates magical realism, and features a suspenseful romance. At the heart of the book are Jin-Li, the dance hall girl, and Ren, the Chinese house boy. Together, they must set the world right, placating the mysterious night tiger.

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    Last week, I read The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young. This week, I read her previous book, Spells for Forgetting, as it is considered her breakthrough book. There is an island off the Northwest Coast called Saoirse. Its insular natives know it is more than it seems. As a teenager, Emery was eager to leave with her true love, August. Then her best friend died under mysterious circumstances, and August leaves without her. Years later, August returns to bury his mother, and the past, the island, and its inhabitants want revenge.

 https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Adrienne+Young

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    Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots was a surprising book. In the blurb, it stated that the main character was angry, which made me less inclined to read it. I understand there is no story without conflict, but I have a big conflict-avoidant streak, and it made me resistant to reading the book. I did, and I'm glad I did. Anna is the lowest level of henchperson. She works for a temp agency and is hired to be an extra in a villain's ransom plot, where she becomes collateral damage. This lights a fire in her belly to expose the "good" guys. Walschots has thought-provoking things to say about what nudges some towards evil-doing and others to the hero business, while at the same time sustaining a turbo-paced plot with a large cast of weird, wonderful characters with odd superpowers. It wrestles with the morally grey areas of who's a good guy and who's a bad guy.  

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📚📚📚Several Excellent books🦊🍄🛍️⏳

 

    One of my daughters recommended The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo, and then I started seeing it everywhere. It is considered a historical fantasy set in Manchuria in 1908, featuring foxes. The main character, a magical female fox who has taken on human form, is seeking revenge. She is trailing someone, but must use her cunning to avoid detection and capture. The plot is surprising with vivid characters. It was hard to put down.

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    Robert Jackson Bennett's The Tainted Cup, Shadow of the Leviathan: Book 1, was on a staff recommendation table at Mitzi's Books in Rapid City, South Dakota —a lovely Indie bookstore. The recommendation was captivating, and I couldn't resist. It was worth the hype. Bennett's fantasy world is well-constructed, believable, and gritty. The main character, Dinios Kol, has been altered to be an Engraver. Engravers are like human recorders. They remember everything, especially when they focus on doing so. The book opens with him being sent by his master, an investigator for the region. This is a familiar mystery novel coupling: a new hire with an experienced, brilliant, eccentric boss. Through the book, they get to know and respect each other as they solve tricky, twisty murders. The reader also becomes indoctrinated in the world that is the Great and Holy Empire of Khanum. It reminds me of feudal Japan with more gender equality. I'm not sure how many books are planned. The second is out, and the third is in the works, but doesn't have a release date. 

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    This is the summer of Abby Jimenez for me. Just for the Summer(Part of Your World) features Emma and Justin, who feel they are both under a curse. Everyone they date and break up with immediately finds their soul mate. Justin mentions it on Reddit, and Emma jokingly responds that she has the same problem. They hatch a plan to date "just for the summer" in an attempt to break the curse. Emma is a travel nurse who gets a six-week assignment in Minneapolis, MN, to be near Justin. I feel Jimenez's characters struggle with more than romantic problems. She uses the disruptive quality of falling in love as a force for change. The fixes are not quick or easy, but they are earned. I also enjoyed this book because I recently returned from a trip to Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. This book is set in Minneapolis, and so many of the places enjoyed by Emma and Justin I'd experienced. Shout out to Mall of America. Just wow.

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    I love a time travel story and was surprised to find that The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young is all about the perils of time travel. I went into it thinking it was a romance. The women in June Farrow's family have a history of dementia and mental instability. The book opens with June attending her grandmother's burial, marking the start of her experiences with seeing things that aren't there. As she begins to piece together the pieces of her life and the lives of her mother and grandmother, June faces tough choices for herself, as well as those she loves. That's one of the things about time travel, its ability to impact so many lives. 

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🚀👽🛸🐦‍⬛🐜 Science Fiction, 🐾 Newbery Winner, and ❤️‍🔥Romance

   I was on vacation, and I wanted a book that was interesting, but not so much that I couldn't put it down to look at Mt. Rushmore or hike in the Badlands. 

    The Collected Short Fiction of Ann Leckie was the perfect book. Leckie writes intriguing science fiction, and each story is short and sharp. Leckie writes frequently about power. She explores the concept of gods who require worship and sacrifice to thrive, and the humans who need protection and provision to survivive. How can those who have little power get what they need to flourish? Lots of thought-provoking ways.

Here are links to my reviews of her Imperial Radch series:

https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2022/08/sci-fi-essays-and-dog-story.html

https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2022/08/ann-leckies-imperial-radch-series-books.html

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    Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray is the final Newbery Award winner for my book club. It won in 1943, making it the oldest one we've read. We read books from several decades, and while there are timeless themes such as the importance of choices and character, how they are interpreted and expressed changes over time. Adam is the son of a famous minstrel and wants to be a minstrel himself. He lived in England in the 13th century, and Gray folds in history and culture seamlessly. Adam becomes separated from his father and his beloved dog. As he travels around on foot looking for them, he encounters people from all walks of medieval life--some helpful and kind, some less so. Adam is about twelve years old and is facing hardship in his search for his loved ones. It makes for compelling reading.

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    The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez is the second in the Friend Zone Series; however, it can be read as a standalone. I like Abby Jimenez as a Romance writer. She works diligently on character development, and her pacing keeps me turning pages. Romance is predictable, and you know the destination, but the path she takes there is a good one. Dogs are a feature of the two books I've read so far, and they're adorable. The men tend to be rugged specimens who enjoy hunting and home repair, while also being mostly flawless both physically and emotionally. While the women are gorgeous and wounded, but are ripe for recovery. It is a fantasy, but an enjoyable one.

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🏔️🦯 🥾 🏕️🎒Mr. Fabulous on the AT

    This is not something I usually comment on, but the cover of The Unlikely Thru-Hiker: An Appalachian Trail Journey by Derek Lugo is fantastic. It’s eye catching, and does a terrific job representing what the book is about. Derek Lugo hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2018, I think. Before deciding to hike the trail, he worked as a comedian in New York City. At the start of the book, I judged, incorrectly, that he probably wouldn’t finish because he was too inexperienced to handle the rigor of trail life. But, he does. The book is funny in its descriptions of trail life and his education along the way. It demonstrates the benefits of “tramilies,” trail families that form spontaneously as people hike. I was traveling with long drives and Dear Husband and I listened to the audio book read by the author Derek Lugo. It helped the miles speed by because Derek is hilarious and thoughtfully. Even if you’re not into travel books, this one is worth the time.

    Dear Husband and I have hiked sections of the AT, and have an appreciation for what it takes. We dream of one day hiking the entire 2,190 miles when we get 7-9 months free, plus a level of health and crazy it would require. 

🏔️🦯  🥾 🏕️🎒

👑 🏴‍☠️🫖☕️ Romance and more Murderbot

    I love books with whimsy but it can be a tough balancing act between whimsy and silly. The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton is a clever, tongue-in-check romantasy about pirates, both male and female, magic, manners, propriety and Queen Victoria. I’ve seen it listed as Historical Fantasy. If you enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, you will like this. Even though I found it a bit overwrought at times, the heroine possesses a steady head, until she falls for the pirate trying to assassinate her. 

👑 🏴‍☠️🫖☕️

    Part of Your World is my second Abby Jimenez book. I liked this one better than The Friend Zone. This protagonist is also facing toxic situations from parents and an ex. It is a good balance of a wealthy city and a small-town boy who have terrific reasons not to be able to leave their worlds. Standard romance fare, dealing with issues related to women, like abuse, both physical and emotional. It is on the upper edge of spiciness. 

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    After several novella-length stories of Murderbot, Martha Wells produces a full length work, The Network Effect. She skillfully blends previous characters and plots into the further adventures and evolution of Murderbot. Murderbot is kidnapped by hostile somethings. Now he has to unravel why, who, and what do they want. He has to work with humans, even a human adolescent, and an old friend who needs him. Martha Wells has been surprised to find that Murderbot exhibits many traits of someone who is autistic. She, herself identifies as Neurodivergent. I have several neurodivergent people in my life and reading about Murderbot’s interior life helps me understand that they are not unaffected by life, not emotionless, their process and response is looks different. Wells advocates that the goal shouldn’t be to make them more “normal” but to adjust communication and understanding.

Here is a terrific article about Murderbot and Autism. An Autistic-Coded Robot Done Right:  https://reactormag.com/murderbot-an-autistic-coded-robot-done-right/

📰🗞️💌🤖 Lots of Romance and a MURDERBOT!

 

    Diving Rivals and Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment #1 and #2) by Rebecca Ross are the two books of a YA fantasy romance duology. Ross has created a fantasy world similar in time and technology to World War I, where a light sprinkling of magic is present. The protagonists, Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt, both have magic typewriters that create a communication link between them. They are aspiring journalists competing for the same position as a columnist for the prestigious Oath Gazette. Familiar tropes like the Rick Boy, Poor Girl caught in the maelstrom of war, who grow to love one another, raise the stakes for their survival. However, a twist is that this war is fought in service to the gods Dacre and Enva, who are at odds with each other. This adds another layer of problems that need to be solved for the books to have a satisfactory ending. The concluding book, Ruthless Vows, has the lovers fighting against the God of the Underworld, Dacre. They experience perilous adventures and receive help from others who believe in their cause. 

    Prepare for a mini rant. I don't know why this wasn't one long book. I suspect it was to make more money, and, yes, publishing is difficult, but it is still aggravating. Thank you for your patience. 

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   The Friend Zone, by Abby Jimenez, is the first one I've read by this popular author. Her characters are vibrant and sassy. Her plots, like those of every romance, are predictable, but she brings the fun and twists. Jimenez doesn't spare talking about difficult things like fibroid uterine tumors, infertility, and loss. I did find the ending, given the tone of the book, unearned. Also, the main female character felt a bit psycho with her: I love you, but I can't be with you, and if I told you, you wouldn't want to be with me, so go away after you kiss me. So much of the book wouldn't have happened if she had a forthright conversation with her love interest. I looked at some reviews on Goodreads, and there are strong feelings about how the book ended. Overall, I enjoyed it and looked forward to reading other books by Jimenez.

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    I continue my re-reading journey through The Murderbot Diaries with #4 Exit Strategy. Murderbot is wrestling with feelings. As a SecUnit, he doesn't usually have those feelings, but he finds that he cares about Mensa's well-being and, through analysis, knows she has been kidnapped. Mensa is a mother figure to Murderbot, and it both freaks him out and appeals to him. It's tough to be Murderbot.

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https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Martha+Wells