☘️💧🇮🇪🦡⚔️😈 Maggie O'Farrell's Latest

    Land is Maggie O'Farrell's latest book. Maggie O'Farrell is another of my favorite authors, who, like Anne Patchett, gives me mixed feelings when I start a book written by them. I know I will read impressive prose, clever plots, and authentic, human characters. That's the problem. In Land,  the humanity of the family forged from the brutal remnants of the Great Hunger. Father and Mother, Tomás and Phina, are their family's sole survivors. It shapes their lives and choices, leaving them with fears and loneliness that affect how their four children navigate the world. Even as I was reading, I sensed that each child, imbued with personality and vividness, was also representative of Irish culture: a priest, a musician, a steady, silent worker, and a loyal, hardworking daughter. Another great novel.

Reviews of other Maggie O'Farrell books: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Maggie+O%27Farrell

☘️💧🇮🇪

 

    The Village of Noobtown by Ryan Rimmel is the second in the series that I have read. I gave the first one three stars on Goodreads, and I will give this one the same. I'm surprised that it has a four-star rating. The concept is classic LitRPG. A human finds himself in an actual video game scenario. They need to figure out what is happening, level up, and stay alive. Our hero, Jim, does those things with a lot of fart jokes, crazy companions, and inadequate character development. The author gives a lot--maybe too much-- technical detail. It reminds me, I'm not the target audience. The series reads like video game fan fiction. I have been reading LitRPG because of Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. I think he's exceptionally talented. 

Review of the first in the series: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Noobtown

🦡⚔️😈

🐉 Dragons, 🐦‍⬛Avenging Birds, and 😐 Noobs

 

Book two of the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik takes place in China, where dragons are more commonplace than in England. I like how Novik thinks about several aspects of a world with dragons, like whether a country could raise enough food to support dragons and dragon bloodlines. Book two wasn't as exciting as book one, but the British and dragons are compelling. I plan to continue reading the series until I finish all nine books, though not urgently. The writing and plot are solid.

🐲🐉🗺️💨

  Lucy Foley excels at writing creepy, suspenseful stories full of broken, struggling people who hurt others and themselves. It gave me pause when I was deciding whether or not to read The Midnight Feast. I know I will go down the dark alleys of the human experience. She has unforeseen zigzags to the final page. There is no moment I can let my guard down because there is a plot twist to reveal. The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley is a suspenseful, bleak mystery that kept me guessing. Her characters are layers of light and shadow. The ending was immensely satisfying.

https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=The+Paris+Apartment

🌊🌅🌳🐦‍⬛🪶

    Audible gave me a free listen to the Lit RPG The Mayor of Noobtown by Ryan Rimmel. This is an eight-book series, so if they hook me, it's to their financial advantage. It is a lightweight, fun book. The premise (like most Lit RPGs) is that a real person finds themselves in some sort of video game needing to survive by leveling up and defeating monsters. The humor is juvenile, so it made me smile. Having a pet or magical creature as a guide is a feature of all Lit RPGs. Jim, the main character, is stuck with an unreliable guide, a level one demon needing his help. It creates an interesting symbiotic relationship. The book ends on a cliffhanger. 

😐👿🗡️🧌🐺🏘️