🪿🏰⚔️ 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!

🗡️👀😈🏰

🚆🛤️ Train Travel, More T. Kingfisher, and Lifting the Mental Load

 

    It's time for March's travel book for book club, and it's Around the World in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh. Rajesh is a British travel journalist who has an affinity for train travel--the pace, the people, the scenery. She convinces her fiancee to travel by eighty different trains for seven months. The experience was diverse. Some trains were luxurious, and some were rolling port-a-potties. She shares her research in the regions she travels through in a natural, exciting way. I enjoyed hearing how train experiences differ between Russia, Europe, North Korea, and North America. Taking a train across Canada sounds delightful. Her book is well-researched and balanced.

Here is a link to a map and list of her route and the trains she took: https://unselfishtravel.blog/around-the-world-in-80-trains-by-monisha-rajesh/ 

🚊🚞🚄🚆🚝🚇🚃🚞💺

    Have I mentioned lately how much I enjoy T. Kingfisher?

Here is a link to my many blog posts about her: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=T.+Kingfisher

    After being on a waitlist for several weeks, I finally read  A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher. The protagonist is 14-year-old Mona, a baker's apprentice for her aunt. Mona has a unique magical affinity for dough, creating an unstoppable sourdough starter and a fierce gingerbread companion. Her city is reasonably tolerant of magical folks, but then they start disappearing. One early morning, Mona finds a dead girl on the floor of her bakery and is arrested for her murder. I enjoyed this rollercoaster of a story. She assembles a diverse, imaginative cast and several evil villains. Kingfisher's books are well-written and humorous, but she also addresses valuable themes, like being different, a minority, or outside of the mainstream, with understanding and kindness. Not to be trite, but she calls me to be empathetic and generous.

🍪🍞🥖🥐🧙‍♀️

    Paladin's Hope is the third in the Saint of Steel series. This one features Paladin Galen and his attraction to the Lich doctor (coroner) Piper. It is an LGTQ love story. Every book in this series is wrapped around the formula of a mystery and a reluctant romance. Galen and Piper, with help from Earstripe the Gnole, an intelligent badger creature, who brings comic relief between two earnestly avoidant but still attracted men. Of the three books I've read in the series, this one referred back to previously written books I haven't read. At times, I was lost in a history that informed the current story, but still mostly understood everything. 

🦡🧩🔎⚙️

    I saw The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler, recommended at Park Books (https://www.parkbooksmd.com/), and I borrowed it from Libby. Three women find themselves divorced single moms in NYC and, one tipsy night, decide to create an app that charges for the mental load women usually shoulder. Think insurance forms, shopping, appointments for everyone, etc. This book is an empowering romantic comedy. 

📋🎁👩‍💻🐶

⚔️ More T. Kingfisher (Help, I Running Out!), 🪦Middleschoo Horror-ish, 🎑 and a Novel About Jimbocho, Tokyo 📚

 

    As I've read most of T. Kingfisher's backlog, I've done it out of order, reading what has come available on Libby. Mostly, it hasn't been a problem. There is an occasional reference that I don't get, but most of her books, even in series, can be read out of sequence. The Clocktaur War duology is the set of books establishing her Paladin universe. Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine set up  The Saint Steel series as well as Swordheart. Kingfisher's works have a distinctive style and repeating elements. There is reluctant romance, humourous gnoles, hidden backstories to reveal, a road trip, and the forces of evil to defeat. I knew it would all come right in the end, but I didn't know how it would all come right. A forger--Slate; a disgraced paladin--Caliban; an assassin--Brenner; and a monk scientist--Learned Edmund, must work together to defeat what no one else, including the army, has been able to stop, the Clockwork Boys. If they don't or refuse, they will be eaten by their demon tattoos. Well played, Ms. Kingfisher.

🤖🖊️⚔️🔪🦡

       The Doll Bones by Holly Black is horror-lite for middle schoolers. Three friends since elementary school, but are now in middle school. Change is inevitable, and it's scary. Black describes the turmoil of having a foot in two boats: who you've been and who you are becoming. Things that defined them as elementary kids are now "babyish." Black demonstrates how the skills from playing pretend and making up stories are still valuable and necessary.

                                 ⛵️🏴‍☠️👑🚍🪦

    I love reading books, and the next level up from reading a good book is reading a good book about someone who loves reading good books. Days at Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, translated by Eric Ozawa, is that sort of book. It is a novel about a young woman who suffers a heartbreak and falls into a depression. Her uncle invites her to come live above his bookstore in Jimbocho, the used book district of Tokoyo.

🙀

This is an actual place, and I want to go there: https://booksandbao.com/jimbocho-tokyos-book-town-video-guide/. 

    The story is about relationships and learning to communicate with those you love. It had a different feel from the fantasy I've been reading lately. I quite enjoyed it.

📚🗾🎑

🛣️ Road Trips 📚 Mystery 😱Horror

    April's travel book for book club is On The Road by Jack Kerouac. I had heard of this book but had never read it, and a benefit of book club is exposure to books I might not choose. It is a book about travel both exteriorly by bus, car, and hitchhiking back and forth across the USA, and interiorly, away from conservative values and the confinement of society's expectations like paying your bills, being faithful to your spouse, and supporting your children. It is described as the voice of the Beat Generation and its influence on American culture. It is a book to read to have a window into the upheaval of the late 50s and 60s. I didn't like On The Road because I found it dishonest. There is no free life; someone will have to pay the cost of food, gas, and babies. Kerouac's idea of freedom is self-centered and comes at the cost of someone else taking on the debt.

    In contrast to other books I've read on travel, Wild, Eat, Pray, Love, and Travels with Charley give the writers an understanding of themselves and others; the result of Kerouac's trip feels like a spiral downward. His travel catalyst is his friend, Dean Moriarty, who abandons him and also fascinates him in turn. Dean is the main protagonist and the most exciting character. When he's not around, things are less interesting. Overall, I'm glad to have read On The Road because I won't have to ever read it again.

🗺️🚘👍🛣️

    I read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield many years ago, but I didn't recognize the book until about halfway through. I couldn't remember how it ended! It feels like I'm not long from hiding my own Easter eggs. The plot of this excellent mystery is complex so I will give myself a break for not quite remembering the title. The book fits into a gothic mystery category with a crumbling house, orphan twins, and mysterious old women. It has surprising turns and mysteries within mysteries. A big plus is the protagonist works in a bookshop, and there is much book talk. I recommend reading it twice!

👩‍🦰👩‍🦰🏚️📚

 

    Speaking of gothic and adding horror brings me to T. Kingfisher's book The Twisted Ones. She has several titles--A House with Good Bones and The Hollow Places--that take place in the American South and are spooky weird. Here is a link to my reviews of the others.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658929891i/70401.jpg

    The Twisted Ones follows Kingfisher's gothic horror formula of the female protagonist with a recent break-up, goes south to help or be helped by a relative, and lives in a creepy house that turns out to be a portal to horrible things. However, the book is populated with weirdly wonderful characters and evil villains that give the plot suspense. I like the heroes and dislike the villains. 

As a side note, if Kingfisher's actual grandmother is as bad as her written grandmothers, she's crafted an excellent revenge. 

    This is the last Kingfisher book for a while. I'm still missing a few, but I will have to find them outside my usual channels. Fortunately, there are many good books in the world that I still want to read.

💀😱🐶🌲

A Big Week: Theology🌧️, Fantasy 🌹🌿🐻and Sci-Fi 🐙

 

A look at the need for lament in the Church and our hearts

    Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament by Mark Vroegop was gifted to me by my good friend. We share an affinity to understand God better than we do, especially how we walk through challenging, sad events in our present and past, plus be prepared for the ones to come in our future. Pastor Vroegop speaks from his own life and many years of shepherding the members of his congregation through pain and suffering. He turns to the Psalms, where sixty-five of them--over half--are lament. Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy is more than comforting; it also encourages the rightness of mourning.

⛈️💨🌧️🌦️

    If you read this blog regularly, you will notice I've been on a T. Kingfisher reading binge. Bryony and Roses is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast with surprises.

🌹🥀💐

I started a new series this week. To write a good series, you need strong characters, demanding situations, and good peaks and valleys in the plot. Kingfisher has been writing many books (30+), and she knows what she's doing. It's by T. Kingfisher. It is a well-crafted fantasy series that examines, in turn, the surviving knights who served and lost their god. It has left them broken in mind and spirit. The first book, Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel #1), focuses on the knight, Stephen, and a perfumer, Grace. Paladin's Grace has lots of lovely tropes: broken hearts, dangerous enemies, menacing zombies, and afraid yet brave heroes. Kingfisher seeks to balance the woman who needs to be rescued because she's helpless and a woman who needs to be rescued because she's overwhelmed by schemers and events. Even though this book is the start of a series, there is a solid ending.

🏮🂼🧟🪴

    I also just finished the second book in The Saint of Steel series, Paladin's Strength. The main characters are another knight, Istvan, and a reticent nun on the run, Clara. They both carry secret burdens that put them and each other in danger, but they both have people to save and mysteries to solve. I like this book even better than the first one because of the road trip romance trope. It works well. 

🐻🧟‍♂️💪

    The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler is hardcore science fiction in the same vein as Neil Stephenson and Andy Wier. Nayler follows three antagonist in this near future story. It balances plot and action with speculation on what defines a human: consciousness, culture, collaboration? Naylor has well developed ideas that integrate well into the storyline and didn't veer into pontification. Also, octopus are a major feature, so win!

🐙🤖🌊 💻

Christmas🎄, Horror 💀, Fantasy 🧚‍♀️, and Black History Month

    I reserved this book in December, and it only became available this week, but I'm up for keeping Christmas in my heart all year! Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley is a holiday romance book placed during the rare intersection of Ramadan, Hanukkah, and Christmas. Two main characters, Maryam and Anna, are on the same flight to Canada when the weather grounds them in a small, picturesque Christmas town. Even though the book is full of holiday romance tropes--meet-cutes, mistaken identity, being snowed-in, let's do-a-show, and a nod to Dickin's Christmas Carol--it is delightfully done. 

🎄❄️❤️

    I am relatively new to the author T. Kingfisher, but I'm a fan. Her book Nettle & Bone was my best book of 2023. This week, I read two of her books, A House with Good Bones and Thornhedge. A House with Good Bones leans into her horror side. Sam, a thirty-something archeological entomologist, returns to her childhood home for an unexpected extended stay with her beloved mother. Something is not right. Her mom is jumpy and terrified. The formerly cozy home is returned to its uptight decor of her grandmother. And why are there buzzards watching the house? It is a good blend of suspense, mystery, and Southern Gothic.

🦴🐞🪶🌹🏘️

    Thornhedge is a fantasy novella. Stolen by the fairies as a child and raised by toads, she is tasked to return to her family to save them from her changeling replacement. Kingfisher's characters are not superlative when it comes to beauty or bravery. This makes me root for them because they don't have advantages. They have to overcome themselves as much as the problems presented to them. I recommend this and everything I've read so far by T. Kingfisher.

Here are previous posts of some of her books: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=T.+Kingfisher

🧚‍♀️🐸🍄

    Why make a special to read black others one month a year? I would like to read widely about different genres and ethnicities all year. I try, but I find it beneficial to prioritize reading black authors one month a year. That makes it sound like I have a list ready to go. I do not. This is where I look to my library or Goodreads to help me find books. Here is a link to Goodreads's list of 100 Essential New Works of Fiction by Black Authors. https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2723?ref=ed_ads_1_24_bhm

 

    Leslie F*cking Jones by Leslie Jones is a lot. I listened to the audiobook by Leslie Jones. The word that describes this book to me is intense. Leslie Jones powerfully tells her dynamic story. As she narrates, she stops and gives advice. The advice springs from hard times and having to figure Hollywood, comedy, and finance out on her own. Jones is a yeller. She is. I cringe when someone yells at me, and sometimes, I felt overwhelmed by all of Jones's yelling and f-bombs. However, she is hilarious and fierce.

🤣🎤😂

Memoir📚📖 and More Kingfisher!🗡️🌳

 

    This is a powerful, eye-opening book. How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair is a memoir that reminded me of Educated by Tara Westover and Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance. All are stories of grinding poverty and oppression told by the adult children who survived but not without scars. I listened to the audiobook read by the author. Safiya Sinclair is a poet, which shows up in her powerful use of words and rhythm. She grew up in Jamaica and was the child of Rastafarian parents. Her dreadlocks made her the target of discrimination and bullying, but her intellect, drive, and her mother's fierce love her lifted her into hopefulness. 

🏝️🇯🇲📚

    Another week, another book--or two--by T. Kingfisher (AKA Ursula Vernon). Swordheart is in the same world as the Saint of Steel series, but not in the same series. A middle-aged widow who works as a housekeeper for her recently deceased uncle-in-law. He has left her his entire estate and his side of the family is not pleased but hopes to rectify the situation by having her marry her clammy-handed cousin. She is locked in her room for days and decides to kill herself using a decorative sword that has always hung on the wall above her bed. The magical sword contains an enchanted swordsman who, like a genie, must serve whoever holds the sword. From there, it only gets more interesting. The story and characters are unique, but the book cover--meh.

🗡️🦡🪄🐂

    When it comes to the horror genre, I'm usually a hard no. T. Kingfisher is slowly changing my mind, one scary, twisty book at a time. The Hollow Places will make you think twice before going into a museum of collected oddities ever again. I know I will. The story opens with recently divorced Kara moving into her uncle's Wonder Museum to help out while she regroups. After reading many books by Kingfisher, I'm starting to recognize her plot patterns. There is a disruption--divorce, death, economic threat--and the protagonist finds themselves on a different path with new characters. They make a magical or alien discovery, usually evil or dangerous, and spend the rest of the book fighting the evil while becoming a better person. Works for me. The Hollow Places is spooky but captivating. If you don't mind being a bit petrified, I recommend it.

🌳🦦🫎😼

🩶🍎🐍🍎🩶 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!

🩶🍎🐍🍎🩶

                                 

    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.

🤑

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.

💀🏘️💀

🎭🏺🏛️Greek Tragedy and 2 Fun Fantasy Books 🧙‍♀️🐲🦇🎨🖌️

 

    When the main character is famous for killing her husband, the king, because he sacrificed their daughter to the gods, you're prepared for tragedy. Costanza Casati's novel Clytemnestra balances the tragedies that Clytemnestra faces with her fierce intelligence and strength. As a warrior princess of Sparta who rules Mycenae while her husband fights in the Trojan War, Clytemnestra is a wonderfully complex woman. I found this book captivating and couldn't stop reading it except to occasionally go and look up a character to see what happened to them--like Aeschellus, Orestes, and Menelaus. 

🎭🏺🏛️

    Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon was a humorous middle-grade fantasy book. Ursula Vernon, also known as T. Kingfisher, is an author I'm crushing on currently. I'm willing to read anything she's written. Vernon writes delightful characters that you want to succeed. This book has an ensemble cast of minions like a goldfish, bat, and donkey/dragon, but the main character is a twelve-year-old trying hard to be a wicked witch. There are many secrets and "time bombs" that propel the story along. Castle Hangnail is aimed at middle-schoolers, but I was caught up in the story and had difficulty putting it down at bedtime.

🏚️🧙‍♀️🐲🦇 

    Illuminations by T. Kingfisher is a fantasy middle-grade book about an Italian Renaissance family who makes illuminations that give magical protection to the things they are painted on. Rosa Mandolini accidentally releases a Scarling--an evil mandrake who steals magic from illumination--who seeks to destroy the family's livelihood. As things go wrong, Rosa's family blames her for the damage. Afraid to tell her family, she needs to recapture the Scarling. It is not a job she can complete alone. To help her, she has a thieving crow and her no-longer-best friend. Kingfisher is a suspenseful, gifted storyteller.

🐦‍⬛🎨🖌️

Theology, Murder, and Fantasy--Typical Week

 

    Someone recommended Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better by Brant Hansen, and I've begrudgingly read it. I am suspicious of subtitles that say one change can make all of life better. I found it to be even-handed and generous. I frequently circle around the question of whether anger is good or bad, helpful or destructive. (I tend to be a black-and-white thinker. Surprise!) Hansen gave good arguments, especially for followers of Christ, to examine their anger and see if it is self-justifying or a check engine light pointing to a problem. This book is short, full of stories, and thought-provoking. It is worth reading and considering.

😡😤🕊️

    Lindsey Davis writes historical mysteries that take place in Ancient Rome, and they are terrific. I have been reading her Roman mysteries for over 30+ years. That's a long time. She doesn't disappoint. This week, I read #10 in the Flavia Albia series, Desperate Undertaking. This series is best read in order but optional. Desperate Undertaking is the tale of a serial killer with a fondness for theater and cruelty. Long-time readers will encounter characters from past adventures. Davis's previous series, Marcus Didius Falco, is about Albia's adopted father, who also solved crimes. If you have lots of time or want to read interesting, informative books about Rome involving murder, Lindsey Davis is for you.     

Here is a link to previous Flavia Albia books I've reviewed:

https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Flavia+Albia

🎭🔍🐻

    This will be the first week in a long time that I haven't read a T. Kingfisher. I went online and typed, "If you like T. Kingfisher, you will like _______? We used to do this at the bookstore to find recommendations for people who wanted a book close to an author they liked. The all-knowing internet produced the author Cornelia Funke. Hurray! I've read her Ink Heart series and liked it a great deal. The past four days have been spent consuming her Mirrorworld series. The first book, Reckless, starts with William following his older brother, Jacob, into a mirror world where he is immediately infected by a curse that begins to turn his flesh, heart, and mind into a living stone. Jacob must use all his learned skills as a treasure hunter to find a cure for William. A cure that none of the withes, magicians, or fairies have been able to create. The second book, Fearless, continues the story, focusing on Jacob and his shape-shifting companion, Vixen, as they search for a powerful crossbow able to defeat entire armies. They aren't the only ones desperately needing to find this weapon of mass destruction. 

    This book reminds me of Star Wars. It has multiple plots, wars, a hint of romance, and a gritty, dangerous world. 

🏰🦄🧚‍♀️🧌🧙‍♀️

❤️‍🔥Romance/Fantasy, 🔍Mystery, 👻Horror, and 🎨 Fiction

 

    A Fire Endless (Elements of Candence #2) by Rebecca Ross is the second of a duology. The first is A River Enchanted. Here is a link to that review: 

https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2024/02/every-book-winner-or-came-close.html.

A Fire Endless was a satisfactory sequel/conclusion once I got into it. It was long (512 pages), and it started with adding more problems to the plot, making me regret starting it at first because the difficulties felt unsolvable. Still, Ross did bring them to a gratifying and surprising conclusion. A third of the way in, I got caught up in the story. Ross's plots are driven by relationships, and there are several passages of couples pledging undying love followed by sexy time. I read a review that felt the book was more of a romance than a fantasy novel. I agree. However, it was still diverting.

❤️‍🔥🧚‍♂️🧝‍♂️🎶🔥

    Tana French's The Hunter is the second in the Cal Hooper series. I read the first one before I started this blog. A retired Chicago cop moves to rural Ireland to find respite from the ugliness of broken, angry people. He meets a good woman, Lena, and gives his heart to a hurting teenager, Trey, who is hungry for a mentor. Then Trey's wandering dad returns after years of being gone, and he plans to make everyone who thought little of him rich. Trouble follows. Sides are chosen. Then someone ends up dead. French is an excellent mystery writer. She spins a good plot, but her greatest strength is her writing. Her language, descriptions, and images are lyrical. I get swept away. She doesn't write cozy mysteries where everything comes out happily ever after, but her endings are earned and authentic.

🇮🇪🕵️‍♂️🔍🐕

    Have I mentioned I like T. Kingfisher? What Feast at Night is the second in her horror series. Here is a link to the review of the first one:

 https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2024/01/i-start-year-with-memoir-horror-and.html.

    Once again, soldier Alex Easton is in an isolated location where deadly, possibly supernatural, events are taking place. Kingfisher juggles the three suspects: science, superstition, and crazy. The main characters from the first book, What Moves the Dead, are present: Alex Easton, Angus, and Ms. Potter. This book centers on the themes of PTSD and superstition. 

🐴👻🏚️😴

    I heard about Painting the Light by Sally Cabot Gunning on vacation with my sister and her mother-in-law, Nancy. They both have strange ties to Cap Cod and have met Sally Cabot Gunning. They highly recommended her. They were right! Gunnings describes painting so accurately that I went looking for Ida Russell's work online. Gunnings has done plenty of research, and it gives her novel texture and gravitas as she describes sheep farming, food, laws surrounding inheritance, bicycling, and clothing. She had a propulsive plot with surprising revelations. It was an enjoyable read, and I felt like I painlessly learned things. Win! A criticism is the heroine behaved more like a woman in 2024 than in 1898.

🎨🖼️🌅🗳️🐑

🐉🧌 🏞️ 🏰 So Much Reading!

 

    There was a lot of reading this week--mostly fantasy, but also literary. I was fortunate to get a copy of Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros. It came out last Tuesday and is the third in a planned five books in a popular series called The Empyrean. Yarros keeps the story moving about Violet Sorrengal and the many, many others. Having a character list to refer to would have been helpful, but I focused on the main characters and rode out the rest. Yarros does a fantastic job of solving some problems and raising new ones. It's an exciting read. A final boss battle gives the book a feeling of an ending but also drops a huge plot point that makes me wish the next book was written and waiting. 

🐉🐲⚡️👥

    Honestly, I will enjoy almost anything written by T. Kingfisher (AKA Ursula Vernon). Nine Goblins is the tale of an unlikely protagonist, a female goblin captain who gets accidentally transported behind enemy lines with her squad. She must get her band of none-too-bright goblins through a magical forest inhabited by enemy elves, deadly wizards, and hungry predators. It isn't as easy as it sounds.

🧌🧝‍♂️🦴🦄

    Elizabeth Strout is a strong writer, able to evoke deep, unsettling emotions, bring them out, and critically examine them. Her latest book, Tell Me Everything, continues the narration of the life of Lucy Barton and connects her with Olive Kitteridge. I find this book challenging to describe. There are many plots and lives woven together. At the center is Lucy Barton. She tries to understand the why of life, especially lives that are blighted by the cruelty of others. Lucy and Olive tell each other stories of unrecorded lives and what they mean. It is thoughtful, gentle, and winsome. Strout well deserves her Pulitzer Prize.

Reviews of other Strout books: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Strout

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    Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis reminds me of T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon--a compliment! A dark lord--evil sorcerer--finds himself in his burning workroom, minus his memories. A goblin minion is knocking at the door, asking if he needs help. He does, but who is trustworthy? Once, Dread Lord Gavrax, who now thinks of himself as Gav, must decide who he will be--good or evil or somewhere in between-- but he doesn't have much time before the scariest Dread Lord of all arrives, his town is destroyed, his captured princess is sacrificed, and the heroes storm the castle. 

🏰🧌👸🪄😈

    

I Start the Year with Memoir, Horror and Fiction. 🥳

    You Could Make This Place Beautiful is a memoir by Maggie Smith. It is chiefly the story of the arc of her marriage. It ended in betrayal and divorce. I get the impression Maggie Smith is trying to do an autopsy to discover the cause of death to avoid the pain of it ever happening again. I found it hopeful even though there were dark moments of financial solvency being jeopardized and painful separation from her children due to shared custody. The title is apt. Things have fallen apart, but Smith seeks to repair and put herself back together in a more trustworthy, authentic way. I appreciate her honesty about how she was also part of the reason why the marriage didn't work, but her former husband still comes across as a jerk.

"I am out with lanterns, looking for myself. —Emily Dickinson"
― Maggie Smith, You Could Make This Place Beautiful

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    The Rachel Incident is a dark comedy about moving into adult life. It takes place in Ireland during a global recession, a poor time to start your adult life, but it's not one that anybody chooses. Rachel's parents are cosmetic dentists and suddenly can't afford to pay for her college classes. She works in a bookstore and meets the love of her life, James. The plot is tangled and fast-paced, but I never felt lost; I was only surprised by things I didn't see coming. For all its humor, it addresses abortion, coming out in Ireland in 2010, and financial uncertainty. The book is written as a backward look from a secure place, and it helps to know everything turns out well; at times, I didn't see how it could happen, but it did.

☘️💸📚

    Who does T. Kingfisher's cover art, and how do they sleep at night? I listened to What Moves the Dead as I did trip recovery and chaos remediation from the holidays--basically restoring the house. I found What Moves the Dead motivating because it creeped me out and made me want to bring order to my world and check for rogue mushrooms. This book is a nod to Poe's Fall of the House of Usher. Kingfisher is neck and neck with Poe on the horror scale, making this book really good and really spooky.

🍄👻🏚️

A Week of Winners 🥉🥈🥇

 

  I've had the good fortune to spend the week reading award-winning sci-fi and fantasy. 

    In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune is the 2023 Science Fiction Book winner of the Good Reads Choice awards. As I read, I noticed similarities to Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi--relationships, similar names, real boys--and looked it up to find I was correct. It is Pinocchio turned inside out. Most characters are robots, cyborgs, and synthetics, except for one real boy, Victor Lawson. Klune's story is imaginative, fast-paced, and humorous. Beneath all that is an account of humanity's greed and foolishness, but also their love. It deserves the award because it has layered characters, action, and adventure. 

Spoiler Alert: I didn't love the ending, and I don't think it was because of the other stellar books I also read. Stylistically, I would have preferred something different. I award this book the bronze medal.

🥉    

🤖🌳🐳

Science Fiction book of the year in 1988

Note: This is an old cover. I couldn't find the current one. 

    Connie Willis is my favorite author. Lincoln's Dreams is a mind-bending, suspenseful drama that shows Connie Willis at her best. Multiple plot threads propel the book. Jeff is a researcher for a man who writes Civil War historical fiction. His old roommate Richard, a psychiatrist at a sleep clinic, has a patient, Annie, who has recurring, disturbing dreams about the Civil War. From there, it gets really fascinatingly weird. I read this book about thirty years ago and still remember it. Revisiting it helped me appreciate Willis's talent for juggling many characters and plots while exploring ideas of duty and honor. I award this book the silver medal.

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😴🚙💔

    Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher wasn't on my radar despite its many awards like the Hugo and Nebula. My daughter recommended it to me, and I loved it. Kingfisher takes the ingredients for a typical fantasy novel: a heroine who wants to save someone precious to them but faces impossible odds. First assemble an odd crew of fierce misfits, then adds some incredibly imaginative plot twists, and dash of romance. I award this book the gold medal.

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🧙‍♀️🐶🧚‍♀️🐥🐓🥷

2023 Year In Review 📚📖

    I keep a list of what I've finished reading on Goodreads. I highly recommend it. I set a goal to read 100 books this year, and Goodreads says I read 138, but there might be some duplicates. 

Books that have stayed with me:

Most Poignant: Signal Fires Danielle Shapiro and Dear Edward by Anne Napolitano

Favorite Use of Multiple Narrators: Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal and Trust by Hernan Diaz

Insightfully Painful: Babel R. F. Kuang and Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Favorite Captivating Title: I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Surprisingly Useful Book: The Art of Making Memories by Meik Wiking

Excellent Fantasy Series: City of Brass Series by S. A. Chakraborty

Octopuses are Now My Favorite Animal: Remarkable Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt and The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery

Africanfuturist Science Fiction Horror: Binti Series by Nnedi Okorafor

Best Audiobook: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, narrated by Meryl Streep

Best Could This Really Happen: Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

Fictional Mind Blowing: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Mind Blowing Memoir: How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key

Favorite Book of the Year:

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

MY 2023 BOOKS

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