📚📚📚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. 

⏳⌛️🕰️⏰⌚️

🚀👽🛸🐦‍⬛🐜 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