🫣 Intense Thriller😱, More Time Travel⏳, and Almost Done with My Latest Fantasy Series⚔️

 

    Master of the Revels is the second in a series about time travel and witches. Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland wrote the first book, The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. The series is continued solely by Nicole Galland. Galland does an adequate job of moving the story along using the original characters. If you are a Shakespeare enthusiast, Galland's knowledge of the details of the people and theater of that time is extensive, and she weaves it into her plot skillfully. Master of the Revels is less science-y than other Stephenson's books, but if you enjoyed the first book and wonder what happened to them--the first book ended on a cliffhanger then it is worth the time to read it.

Here is a link to a review of another Stephenson's book: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Stephenson

🎭⏳🧙‍♀️

    I found The Fury by Alex Michaelides a tense "locked room" mystery thriller. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator was stellar. The murder takes place on a remote island during a fierce windstorm. Michaelides kept me off balance for the entire story. I kind of, sort of figured out some of the big reveals, but the ending caught me by surprise. He does an excellent job of obfuscating significant clues and lulling the reader into a sense of trust only to shatter it. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say I found this book intense and compelling.

🎭🇬🇷🏝️🔎😱

    I read Daindreth's Sorceress by Elisabeth Wheatley, book four of her series Daindreth's Assassin. Wheatley is good at crafting plots that are believable and inventive for the genre, and occasionally, she produces a gem of a metaphor. She likes the word smear and uses it a lot. 

He smeared his wet hair back. She smeared sweat from her face. 

It seems like an unusual use, but it does bring a clear visual to mind. 

Vesha is a sympathetic and ruthless villain. Wheatley supports her actions with understandable desire. I can see why Vesha pursues her awful path, and I wish she would choose differently for her sake and others.

There are as many court politics as sword fights that occur, and it elevates the series.

I'm looking forward to spending my next audible credit on the final book of the series.  

🧝‍♀️🧙‍♀️⚔️

More Elisabeth Wheatley🐴 and 2 Excellent Mysteries🔎🔎

 

    I have clearly fallen down a Daindreth Assassin series wormhole. This week, I read Daindreth's Outlaw and  Daindreth's Traitor by Elisabeth Wheatley. She is strong on plot, sending the storyline in unexpected and unique directions. Her main characters, Amira and Daindreth, haven't undergone much emotional change. They are still seeking to free Daindreth from his curse and declaring their love for one another. Another character given a voice is Thadred, Daindreth's cousin and best friend, who is enslaved to him. Thadred is maturing, understanding who he is and what he might become. I found him the most complex character in books 2 and 3. The hook is firmly planted, and I want to read the entire series eventually.

🗡️🌳🐴

 This has been an excellent week for mysteries!

    I've read many mysteries and have learned what to look for to know the murderer. I still get fooled, especially in the hands of a good writer. Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister is a mystery that starts with the murder and then travels back in time to find the source. This book is everything I love--time travel, true love, self-discovery, and surprise plot twists. This book is my favorite mystery and favorite time travel book for 2024. It is a strong contender for best book of the year. 

⌛️🕰️⌚️📱

The best part about having a reputation as a crazy book person is people give you terrific recommendations. My mom's best friend, Connie, pointed me to How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin. It is a cozy mystery--not too violent, set in an English village--that's done exceptionally well. Here is the premise: weird, rich Aunt Francis has always believed she was going to murdered, so she has been gathering information about everyone in her orbit. When she dies, her great-niece, Anna, steps in to attempt to solve the murder, save her mother's home, save the village from becoming a golf course, and restore her aunt's reputation. There is a lot at stake! Anna is an aspiring murder mystery writer who faints at the sight of blood, or needles or the thought of blood or needles. It creates narrative tension as I root for this young woman to endure the process of figuring it all out before it's too late. 

🔎🧥📔🪶🔍

👹 Demons Were a Theme this Week😈

 

    All's Well by Mona Awad is one of the weirdest books I've read. I wanted to put the book down several times but was desperate to know what happened. It was creepy in a get-in-your-head way but also unique and well-crafted. Awad weaves the plots of Shakespeare's Macbeth and All's Well That Ends Well into a modern-day tale of being powerless and power-hungry and how this can lead one to betrayal and worse.

😈🎭💊

    One of my daughters pointed me to Elisabeth Wheatley's channel on YouTube called Book Goblin. It's very accurate and funny. Here is a link:

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ly9s9YzkvsE?feature=share

    Wheatley's channel also features books she has written. I've looked on Libby to find them and have yet to be successful. I pictured Wheatley as a self-publisher. However, I did find her books on Audible and spent a precious credit to listen to Daindreth's Assassin, the first in the Daindreth's Assassin series. She could have benefited from a better editor. She rocks the plot, and her characters strive to be more than stereotypes. I enjoyed the book and am wrestling with the question of how many credits do I want to use on this five book--quintology?--series. I'm guessing that her writing, especially dialogue, will improve with time. I would like to access her books less expensively but should suck it up and support a creative making it work.

⚔️🥷👹

🤯📚Mind-blowing Sci-fi from China and an Epistolary Novel

 

    Death's End is the final installment of Cixin Liu's series The Three-Body Problem. The final book was translated by Ken Liu. This series is mind-blowing. Liu introduced me to new ideas concerning strategy, space travel, and human psychology. He has a dark view of humanity, depicting it as easily panicked and capricious in its moral compass. The central figure of Death's End is a compassionate woman who continually tries to make loving and kind decisions only to find that it plunges Earth into further danger. Lius wrestles with leadership styles and breaks them into masculine and feminine, which is unfortunate. Liu's plot roams over a wide range--culture, gender, technology, space exploration, string theory, multiple universe theory, power, and physics--all in service of the plot. Death's End is a space opera involving enormous stakes. 

    Sometimes, writers who are terrific at science could be better at character development, and I think Liu's characters, especially the women, are somewhat one-dimensional. His females could be interpreted as weak and the cause of humanity's dangers. I have seen reviews where Cixin Lui is called misogynistic. My take is that he is unfamiliar with the interior lives of others—men and women--causing his books to be plot-driven, not character-driven. Even with all that, this is a fantastic series.

Here is a link to my other reviews of the series:

https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=three+body

🤯🔭🤯🚀🤯🪐🤯🛸🤯👽🤯

    Julie Schumacher's short book, Dear Committee Members, is snarky and poignant. It is written as a series of letters—primarily recommendations for jobs at the request of former students—in which an aging English Professor, Jason Fitger, gives much more than advocacy but also an opportunity to air his grievances with academia. In a short work, Schumacher critiques the waning budgets of English departments as compared to economics and other sexier departments. She makes a strong case for the humanities. It's quite clever and well done. There are at least two more books featuring Professor Fitger, and I'm looking forward to reading them.

👨‍🏫📚📓🖊️

🏰🦄👠❤️‍🔥 Fantasy, Contemperary Fiction, and Christian Self-Help

 

   Cursed by Marissa Meyer is the second in a fantasy duology. Here is a link to my review of the first, Gilded. Meyer commands the story arc so well. There are zigs and zags that I didn't see coming but were within the realm of the story. This second book fits well with the first, and I wonder if it was all one work at first. Being a fairy tale, I believed it would have a happy ending, but Meyer didn't shy away from dark, dismal places. I asked myself if this fairy tale was more of the Grimm variety. 

🏰⚔️🧌🦄

    I had never read the book by Lauren Weisberger, The Devil Wears Prada, which spawned the movie, so this week I did, and I also rewatched the movie (SO GOOD!) The book shows Andy giving up her soul a piece at a time, much like the movie. However, the book has several subplots that the movie doesn't, and the ending is changed. I thought the book would be an easy, breezy romp, but it delves into a body-shaming culture and a not-at-all-cute abusive relationship. I found it worth the read because what was kept and ditched was surprising.. 

🍿 😈👠🗽

I recently attended a Marriage Enrichment Conference sponsored by the Allender Center. I decided to read Bold Love by Dr. Dan B. Allender and Dr. Tremper Longman III, a book that's been on my shelves for years. I'm not sure how to classify this book--Christian self-help is probably the closest to what it is. Allender and Longman make the case for a love that isn't meek in its approach to loving difficult people. It's not tough love, per se, but more about valuing yourself in the equation. The cover (see above) boasts, "Know the difference between loving an evil person, a fool, and a normal sinner." Ouch. This book is helpful and challenging. I felt convicted about how I've failed to love others but also encouraged that there are hopeful pathways toward healing. It took me several weeks to read it, and I'm glad I took it slowly to absorb it and think about their proposals. I would like to reread it because the material does not have the usual message of "forgive and forget." It's made me think.

❤️❤️‍🔥❤️‍🩹

🪿🏰⚔️ So Much Fantasy! 😍

   This will be a week of fantasy for me, and I’m so excited!

😍

 

 Marissa Meyer was new to me and was recommended by one of my daughters, who shares my love of fantasy. Gilded is a retelling of the story of Rumplestiltskin. Meyer creates an imaginative world with a plucky heroine. Sirelda is a poor miller’s daughter who lies to the king of the Undead, the Erlking, telling him she can spin straw into gold. Sound familiar? From that familiar fairy tale, Meyer creates an intricate plot with unforeseen twists and turns. She is not afraid to “kill her darlings,” which gives the story an edgy intensity. Gilded is part of a duology. I’ve got her second one Cursed, locked and loaded. Stay tuned.

💛🧝‍♂️🤴⚔️🏰

    After going a while without any T. Kingfisher, two books become available in the same week! Score! Here is a link to the many, many other T. Kingfisher, AKA Ursula Vernon books I’ve reviewed: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=kingfisher. A Sorceress Comes to Call is a take on the fairy tale The Goose Girl. I was unfamiliar with it, so I looked it up on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goose_Girl), and it’s a Grimm tale. 

😂

This book has horror elements making it one that I prefer to listen to during daylight. I admire Kingfisher’s ability to tell a story from multiple voices, playing them off each other. She also chooses unlikely heroes like a fifty-year-old spinster with knee trouble and an overwhelmed fourteen-year-old fighting a powerful evil sorceress. 

🪄🐴🪿

    Paladin’s Faith is fourth in the Saint of Steel series, and I think there will be more. This book features previous characters, Margarite, the cynical spy, and Shane, the self-loathing Paladin. The more I read of Kingfisher, the more I appreciate her damaged characters who struggle to make their way in the world trying to do more good than damage. Each book in the series revolves around a quest and a romance, making for a spicy, intriguing read. So good!

🗡️👀😈🏰

🦠😷🤒 Memoir, Short Stories, Murder Mystery, Fantasy, and Sci-fi--The Post Has It All!

    Due to a series of unforeseeable events--COVID--I was unable to post last week. This is two weeks' worth of books.

🦠😷🤒

 

     Reading books by people of color and other backgrounds than mine help me grow in my understanding of the dialogue surrounding race. I get to see and feel through another's eyes. Marcie Alvis Walker's excellent essays about growing up in the '70s and '80s with a mentally ill mother, in her hateful grandmother's home, the only black child in an all-white school are gripping, eloquent, and heart-wrenching. 

👩🏾‍🦱📚☕️

    Amor Towles's book of short stories, Table for Two, could be a lot better. I'm guessing some of his earlier work was added not for its excellence but to fill out the page count. However, his last story is worth the effort. It relates to a captivating character, Evelyn Ross, in his book Rules of Civility. 

☕️💔☕️

    Lindsey Davis is a master of mystery. Death on the Tiber continues her series with informer Flavia Albia as she faces the terrors of her past. Even though the plot takes place in Ancient Rome, the characters face human struggles common to every age: crime, abuse, children, relationships, and conflict. Her mystery is well crafted, and the plot moves quickly and steadily. I find her quite reliable.

Here are other reviews about Lindsey Davis: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2024/04/theology-murder-and-fantasy-typical-week.html

🔍😵🔎

        House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A. Craig retells the fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I like a reworked fairy tale, but this one didn't appeal to me. The pace was plodding, and I became annoyed at how long it took for things to happen. Craig has built a clever, robust world, but it lacked spark. 

🌊🐙💃🏻

    The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu is the second in a sci-fi trilogy. Here is a link to my review of the first, The Three-Body Problem. 

  https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2024/06/its-all-about-sci-fi-and-fantasy.html

The Dark Forest had a different translator than the first book, and the transition into English could have been smoother; however, the story was incredible. There is a concept in Christianity of the depravity of humans. It doesn't mean we don't always choose to be self-serving over philanthropic, but the possibility and likelihood are there. The Dark Forest turns on the premise that the way to survival in the universe is to remain undetected. Once other worlds know of our existence, we become a target. The best we hope for is an uneasy détente. Even with this bleak premise, the book is fascinating in the way it examines humanity. The characters' struggles with moral dilemmas feel genuine and compelling. As a fan of sci-fi, I very much enjoyed the excellent writing, the sciency bits, and the philosophical depth.

🚀🪐🔭🦌🌳

🪆A Graphic Novel about Putin, a Historical Fiction💦, and Diving into a New Fantasy Series ❤️🔥

 

    When I start a giant book, I worry I'm not equal to the task of reading it. This seemed especially possible because I abandoned the last large book I tried to read. However, Abraham Verghese's historical fiction book, The Covenant of Water, hooked me from the start. It begins in 1900 with a twelve-year-old Indian girl whose father has died marrying a forty-year-old man. I trepidatiously read on, prepared to once again abandon a book, but I was in good hands. Verghese swept me along, and I was captivated. The Covenant of Water is a five-star book. The characters, the story, and the telling overwhelmed me. I wasn't ready for it to end. There are several enthralling facts and ideas intertwined in the plot. A Christian Church in  India is believed to have been started by St. Thomas--Doubting Thomas--around 52 AD. The main characters are members of this church. 

This denomination still exists today: https://www.syromalabarchurch.in/?fbclid=IwAR0e4DV5lsTz4PfkIdP5tIxexQRU3axgX_qy_obMs_wLzO4xdpPG66FcCMM.

Verghese's writing is solid and evocative. This is a candidate for the best book of the year and definitely the best—and largest—book I've read this summer.

⛪️⚕️🏞️ 💦

   One of my Darling Daughters recommended Graceling by Krisin Cashore. It is a high fantasy book, the start of a series. The worlds people imagine are staggering, and Cashore cooked up a good one. For an unknown reason, some in this world have supernatural powers, a grace. They are called Gracelings. They are easy to spot because they have two different colored eyes. Cool right? Katsu has a grace that enables her to kill people. Her uncle, one of the seven kings, uses her as his enforcer. She hates it. Then she meets another Graceling, Prince Po, who understands and doesn't fear her. It helps Katsu to imagine more for herself: restoring, instead of destroying, leading her to undertake the most powerful enemy, someone like herself, to save others.

    The second book in the series is a prequel that reveals the villain in Graceling's backstory. Fire is about a woman called Fire who has monster blood in her veins, making her irresistible to others. Some are driven to possess her, others to destroy her. Her father used his power to destroy and wanted her to do the same, but Fire desires a different life for herself. This book stands on its own. I find Cashore imaginative and robust in her world-building. The heart of the book, though, is about relationships that harm and those that heal. Good stuff. I will be reading more of the series.

⚔️👁️❤️🔥💘

    Accidental Czar: The Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin by Andrew S. Weiss and Brian "Box" Brown is the strangest book I'll read this year. It is a historic nonfiction graphic novel about Putin. I learned much, not just because I know practically nothing about the inner workings of Russian politics. I have people in my life who strongly believe that Russia influenced the 2020 election, helping Trump win. I found that hard to fathom, but with my newfound understanding, I think it's true. Accidental Czar is written by Weiss, an expert on Russia who advised Presidents Clinton and George Bush. The format lends itself to picturing Putin as a Russian superhero and an American supervillain. I gained insight into why Russia views Ukranian autonomy as a threat. I feel more informed after having read this comic about Putin.

🪆🪆🪆

Love is Blind ❤️ and a Book I didn't Finish (DNF) 😔

 

  I've mentioned that I read romance and fantasy when the going gets tough. There is something comforting in knowing it will all be okay in the end. I enjoyed Katherine Center's Hello Stranger. It has an engaging premise. A long-struggling portrait artist is accepted in a juried contest to win $10,000 and many opportunities. She has six weeks to paint an original portrait. However, she becomes temporarily face-blind. She is unable to recognize anyone. Faces have become disjointed parts resembling a Piccaso painting, making it impossible to paint a portrait. Between her possible hunky veterinarian and suspiciously helpful and flirty neighbor, Sadie Montgomery can't see what to do.

👀👩‍🎨🛼🐾

    When it comes to reading, I am a completist. I generally finish every book I start. I plow through books quickly so it is easier to finish even the less thrilling ones, hoping the story will come together. I was reading Wild Swans by Jung Chang this week and only noticed that it was biographical once. I was only a quarter through a 600+ page book. Wild Swans was easier to read as fiction because I trusted that the author would find a way to redeem the cruel oppression and bleakness of their lives. Real life isn't always that kind. It became difficult to continue, so I'm taking a DNF--did not finish, but I hope one day to return and find that these resilient women found a way to flourish.

🇨🇳💔

🌺🏔️☕️🏞️ Exotic Locales like Hawaii, Afghanistan, East Texas, and a Coffee Shop

 

    Kevin Kwan must have the most amazing life. His books are filled with fantastic food, locations, and clothing. I wish I had a gazillion dollars to visit some places and stay in the incredible hotels! Kwan wrote the Crazy Rich Asian series. His latest book is Lies and Weddings. As I read it, I was reminded of Victorian farces, where the characters strive ridiculously hard not to be unmannerly while pursuing their true love. Rufus, future Earl of Gresham, has been instructed to marry rich to save the family from bankruptcy due to the profligate spending of his mother, who strongly reminds me of Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. However, Rufus' heart belongs to Eden Tong, the girl next door. The action moves quickly, between glamourous spots and beautiful people. Kwan gives a modern-day peek into the stratified world of the über wealthy.

💍🤥🌺🛩️

    The Bodyguard by Katherine Center was a twist on the classic famous woman falling for her bodyguard. In this case, Hannah Brooks is the bodyguard, and Jack Stapleton is the hunky Hollywood star with a persistent stalker. Does she have to pose as his girlfriend? Why, yes! Do they both have secrets and baggage? Also yes! With romance novels, I find it isn't that the destination is unknown--it is headed toward a happily ever after--but how you get there, what obstacles are overcome, and how invested in the characters the author makes you. Hannah Brooks does a job doing it all with some twists. 

💘🎥🏞️

    The final travel book for my book club was Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy. Murphy recounts her 1963/64 cycling journey. A previous and similar cycling book, Lands of Lost Borders by Kate Harris, recounted her cycling The Silk Road with a friend in 2018. Review here: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2024/05/traveltalking-cows-and-magic-attic.html. Dervla Murphy traveled solo through Afghanistan--her favorite country--often staying with tribesmen and in rural settings. She comes across as fierce and determined in pursuing her dream of cycling to India. Here is a link to make of her travels: https://lovecrewar.best/product_details/19269420.html. What stands out to me are the physical hardships and privation she faced, as well as her connection with people.

    For the next season of my book club, we will read Newberry Award winners. So excited!

🚵‍♀️🏔️🐐☀️❄️

    

    Travis Baldree is a rising name in the fantasy genre--high fantasy but with some crossover. Here is a link to his recently published prequel to Legends & Lattes: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2024/06/its-all-about-sci-fi-and-fantasy.html. 

    Legends and Lattes came first, an inventive, beguiling story. An orc named Viv is finished with a career as a mercenary for hire. After a final score, she fulfills her dream of owning a shop. However, can she abandon her usual problem-solving method--off with their heads--to build a business? She will need help, but who will trust an orc?

🧌☕️🥐❤️‍🔥

Mystery 🧽 and Literary Fiction ☘️

 

 The Maid by Nita Prose was a fun mystery. It didn't take me long to realize that Molly was neurodivergent and possessed a kind heart. As her grandma would describe her, she's a good egg. Molly's grandmother raised her when her mother left. Molly decided early to become a maid just like her. She works at a fancy boutique hotel, The Grand Regency. She has had a challenging year. Her terrible boyfriend deserted her, and her beloved grandmother died. All she has is her job. After discovering a dead guest in a hotel suite, her career, her reputation, and her freedom are imperiled. Molly struggles to know who is a friend and who is not. 

I enjoyed The Maid so much that I immediately read the next book in the series, The Mystery Guest. It contains many of the same characters but with a new predicament for the Regency Grand Hotel. Second books can be tricky, and Nita Prose does a great job. The mystery was plausible and complex. I found them both diverting and heart-warming.

🧽🧹🏨

  I am in love with Ann Napolitano. Here is a link to reviews of some of her other books: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Ann+Napolitano

   Within Arm's Reach is Naplitano's first published book. It is similar to her subsequent books in its exploration of different relationships within a dysfunctional Irish family. It is a multi-generational story about Gram, the forceful matriarch of the family, her oldest living daughter, Kelly, and her two adult daughters, who are struggling. The narration moves among several characters. The lives of the family members intertwine in ways they can't see--some toxic, some nourishing--and Gram urgently feels that she needs to fix things. To fix something, it usually needs to be taken apart, breaking it even further. The people in Arm's Reach are broken and struggling but very human. I liked them deeply, cared about their choices, cringed at their mistakes, and rooted for them. 

☘️👼😭