strange and random happenstance

Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: March 1st, 2019
Format: Kindle, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Joanna Teale is alive because her mother is dead. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer too late. But it wasn't too late for Jo. After a radical double mastectomy Jo wants her life to get back to some semblance of normality. Cancer put her life on hold so she's trying to get back to that life. And that life means grad school. Therefore she is burying herself in her graduate work in the wilds of southern Illinois studying birds. She has her routine. It's solitary but restorative to work from dawn until dusk until all you can do is collapse into bed. Or drink a nice cold beer in the backyard of her white clapboard student housing before collapsing into bed, banging on the window AC to show a little life. But her life is about to change radically once again. A young shoeless girl appears battered and bruised outside her house. The girl claims to be an alien child named Ursa, sent from the stars to witness five miracles. Obviously the kid is running away from something and has created this mythology to cope. But the more time Jo spends with Ursa the more she questions what is possible. She can't do this on her own, and there's something about the police that she just doesn't trust, so she turns to her neighbor Gabe. He runs the roadside stand selling eggs while coming to terms with his own existential problems. Gabe agrees that Ursa is special. Maybe she is some sort of extraterrestrial. They can't deny that Ursa brings a strange sort of luck with her wherever she goes. As the three unlikely souls form a ragtag family time passes and Jo realizes that it will be harder and harder to explain to the authorities why she has kept someone else's child for an entire summer. But when Ursa's real life finally catches up to her and shows Jo and Gabe the dark underbelly of human existence they will do anything to save this little girl. It might just take a miracle, but as humans who are they to judge what an alien would view as a miracle?

You know the phenomenon of the last great book you read? Where it was so amazing and transformative that anything that came after would pale in comparison Well, I had the exact opposite experience with this book. I was suffering from last shit book I read. The book I had read previously was possibly the worst book I have ever read. It was Devil House by John Darnielle if you're interested. So anything would have been better than Devil House. Anything at all. While my friends were lamenting that this book used the alien angle as a kind of bait and switch all I could say was at least there wasn't fake ye olde english. So what if this is Northern Exposure meets Law and Order: Special Victims Unit verging towards the almost completely unrealistic? It wasn't Devil House. Where the Forest Meets the Stars is competently written if completely quixotic. But for me it was a place I could escape into. I felt just like Jo, I needed a reprieve from reality, I needed to swim in the rivers, I needed to bath in the forests, I needed to purge the stank of Devil House from my being and Where the Forest Meets the Stars did that for me. But it was Jo's graduate work that intrigued me the most. Glendy Vanderah was a field biologist who got her MS in the Cerulean Warbler so the insight she brought to the character of Jo made her research spot on. And the reason I connected so strongly to this is because of one of my best friends. She's now a Biometrician for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service but every summer for more years than I can count I remember her going out into the field somewhere to do research. She'd be in Ohio in prime Mothman country studying riparian zones or just slightly north of home looking into the impact of windmills on birds. Actually I think she didn't actually get the windmill summer job, but I remember proofing her resume. As well as her paper on riparian zones. What Glendy Vanderah gave me was a glimpse into my best friend's life for all those summers she was away from me and for that I am grateful. I can see her and Jo hanging out a sharing a beer.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aliens, Birds, Breast Cancer, Devil House, For the Love of Book Clubs, Glendy Vanderah, Illinois, Joanna Teale, John Darnielle, Law and Order SVU, Northern Exposure, Summer, Ursa, Where the Forest Meets the Stars

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: May 4th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Ryland Grace is on a suicide mission. He has been sent to the far reaches of space to find a solution to the Petrova Problem, a single-celled extraterrestrial life form named Astrophage that is feeding off the sun. The Astrophage is killing the sun and that will result in the death of all life on Earth. The Earth's only hope is the distant star Tau Ceti. Despite living amongst a cluster of infected stars it somehow is unaffected by the Astrophage. If Ryland can find out why Tau Ceti is unaffected then perhaps there is a hope for Earth. He and two other scientists have been sent on this one way mission and are Earth's only hope, they are a Hail Mary. The problem is when he awakes from the voyage he is suffering from amnesia and his two crewmates are dead, nothing but desiccated husks. He has no idea who he is, where he is, or what he's supposed to be doing. His memory slowly starts to return but he can't quite reconcile that he somehow went from being a teacher to being an astronaut who still doesn't remember his own name. Before Ryland became a teacher he wrote a research paper about extraterrestrial life that could exist without water. He was laughed out of academia and yet that is exactly what Astrophage is. Before he knows what's happening he's one of the top people in the Petrova Taskforce. And yet this remembered information isn't going to help him when his ship is barreling towards an unknown sun. He is barely able to keep himself alive so how is he supposed to save humanity? The plus side, he's remembered his name. And he might have just discovered intelligent alien life! Because there's another ship out there. Another ship with only one survivor. Another ship that was sent to save it's planet because it too is at the mercy of Astropphage. Maybe together they can save two worlds and make their deaths mean something?

Aside from the amnesia, this has a fairly similar setup to The Martian; man, alone, stuck in space with no way home. So I figured it would go along similar lines. Man would, through his ingenuity, find out how to survive his situation. There might be potatoes. And then it didn't because aliens. That's right folks, Andy Weir wrote about freakin' aliens and I loved it! Yes, he occasionally falls into the trap of being almost too technical with his science, which he somehow avoided in The Martian, and here I would zone out for a minute or two, but then Rocky. Every flaw this book has, and there aren't many, are solved by, but then Rocky. I don't know if I've ever felt such genuine love for a character in my entire life. I realize that some people actually love E.T. for inexplicable reasons, but if they felt for that extraterrestrial what I feel for Rocky, I can kind of understand. I mean just the feeling, in no way can I understand you and your unholy love of that Spielberg monstrosity. My love for Rocky was pure, I wanted to take care of him and make sure nothing bad ever happened to him. Rocky has this childlike wonder, this enthusiasm for life, an insatiable yearning to understand. He balances the more dour and pragmatic Ryland and spurs him on. The two of them become a dynamic duo. They show that problem solving works so much better with two than one. I honestly don't know what this book would have been without Rocky. He is so integral to everything. Not just the plot, but the whole feeling of the book. Oddly enough I think this book hits even stronger because it was released during the Pandemic. Earth is fucked and somewhere, out there, is a friend who can help. Someone who completes you. Someone you never expected. Rocky's optimism and ingenuity is the can-do attitude that every single one of us needed mainlined into out veins after such a long struggle. We all needed Rocky and thank the powers that be that Andy Weir gave him to us.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alien, Amnesia, Andy Weir, Apocalypse, Astrophage, E.T., Extraterrestrial, For the Love of Book Clubs, Outer Space, Petrova Problem, Project Hail Mary, Rocky, Ryland Grace, Steven Spielberg, Tau Ceti, The Martian

The Last Word by Elly Griffiths
Published by: Mariner Books
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Words turn deadly with an unlikely detective duo on the case of a murdered obituary writer in this literary mystery from the internationally bestselling author of the Ruth Galloway series. Perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz.

Natalka and Edwin are perfect if improbable partners in a detective agency. At eighty-four, Edwin regularly claims that he's the oldest detective in England. He is a master at surveillance, deploying his age as a cloak of invisibility. Natalka, Ukrainian-born and more than fifty years his junior, is a math whizz, who takes any cases concerning fraud or deception. Despite a steady stream of minor cases, Natalka is frustrated. She loves a murder, as she's fond of saying, and none have come the agency's way. That is until local writer Melody Chambers dies.

Melody's daughters are convinced that their mother was murdered. Edwin thinks that Melody's death is linked to that of an obituary writer who predeceased many of his subjects. Edwin and Benedict go undercover to investigate and are on a creative writing weekend at isolated Battle House when another murder occurs. Are the cases linked and what is the role of a distinctly sinister book group attended by many of writers involved? By the time Edwin has infiltrated the group, he is in serious danger..."

I have been a little obsessed with Elly Griffiths since I read all her Brighton Mysteries. I think it's time to try some of her other books. And yes, probably because I've read all the Brighton Mysteries currently available, even the one I had to special order from England.

Next of Kin by Samantha Jayne Allen
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Tony Hillerman Prize-winning author Samantha Jayne Allen comes Next of Kin, a mesmerizing novel set in a hardscrabble Texas town, where the past is never far away.

At a gathering for her cousin's wedding party, newly-licensed PI Annie McIntyre gets asked an age-old question: what really makes us who we are, nature or nurture? Clint Marshall, an up-and-coming musician and an adoptee at a personal crossroads, wants to hire Annie to find his biological parents, and that question is on his mind. Annie accepts his case, not knowing then that she, too, must decide if she really believes what she tells him that night - in essence, that people are in charge of their destinies. That people can change.

When Annie discovers her client's father is a bank robber who her granddad, Leroy, arrested back when he was sheriff, reverberations sound between the past and the present, igniting old flames and rivalries. When the brother of her client dies suddenly, his death ruled a suicide, Annie questions whether or not it was in fact homicide - and who in this family of outlaws would rather some secrets stay buried.

As Annie sets out to find who killed the brother - and stays out of sight lest she be next - she finds herself searching abandoned, overgrown fields, scouring pool halls and roadside motels, wondering if she will ever escape the sense that her world in Garnett, TX expands and contracts in off-kilter ways, growing smaller and yet still more confounding. Fearing that in a place where everyone knows everyone, your enemy is always closer than you think."

Wait, is the brother that's killed his adopted brother or a newly found brother? Read to find out!

Lost Birds by Anne Hillerman
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman, a thrilling and moving chapter in the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series involving several emotionally complex cases that will test the detectives in different ways.

Joe Leaphorn may be long retired from the Navajo Tribal Police, but his detective skills are still sharp, honed by his work as a private detective. His experience will be essential to solve a compelling new case: finding the birth parents of a woman who was raised by a bilagáana family but believes she is Diné based on one solid clue, an old photograph with a classic Navajo child's blanket. Leaphorn discovers that his client's adoption was questionable, and her adoptive family not what they seem. His quest for answers takes him to an old trading post and leads him to a deadly cache of long-buried family secrets.

As that case grows more complicated, Leaphorn receives an unexpected call from a person he met decades earlier. Cecil Bowleg's desperation is clear in his voice, but just as he begins to explain, the call is cut off by an explosion and Cecil disappears. True to his nature, Leaphorn is determined to find the truth even as the situation grows dangerous. Investigation of the explosion falls in part to Officer Bernadette Manuelito, who discovers an unexpected link to Cecil's missing wife.

Bernie also is involved in a troubling investigation of her own: an elderly weaver whose prize-winning sheep have been ruthlessly killed by feral dogs.

Exploring the emotionally complex issues of adoption of Indigenous children by non-native parents, Anne Hillerman delivers another thought-provoking, gripping mystery that brings to life the vivid terrain of the American Southwest, its people, and the lore and traditions that make it distinct."

Because if you've read all the Tony Hillerman books in anticipation of the new season of Dark Winds and still need more, read Anne Hillerman!

Hobtown Mystery Stories Vol. 1: The Case of the Missing Men by Kris Bertin
Published by: Oni Press
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 312 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet and Hardy Boys mysteries, The Hobtown Mystery Stories take the teen investigator genre to new levels as they explore small town identity and the surreal.

Welcome to Hobtown, a charmingly bleak village (Population: 2,006) and an easy place to get bored if you don't make your own fun.

Hobtown Regional High's top girl, Dana Nance, runs the Teen Detective Club - a registered after-school program that makes it their business to investigate each and every one of their town's bizarre occurrences including pagan secret societies, psychic assaults, and possible "wee man" sightings. Their small world of missing pets and shed fires is turned upside down when real-life kid adventurer and globetrotter Sam Finch comes to town and enlists them in their first real case: the search for his missing father. Something strange is going on, and no one in Hobtown will talk about it. It turns out Sam's dad is the sixth man to go missing this year. The rot runs deep in Hobtown, and it's up to the teen detectives and associates to stay alive long enough to crack the Case of the Missing Men!

Childhood friends Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes have built a truly unique and discrete universe in Hobtown - an exploration of small town identity drawing from the world of pulp, filtered through a lens of esoteric spirituality, skewed genre tropes, deft character work, and an incredible eye for detail."

I still think they could have just namechecked David Lynch instead of listing so many of his works...

A Murder Most French by Colleen Cambridge
Published by: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The City of Light is surging back to life in the wake of war, and its citizens are seizing every opportunity to raise a glass or share a delicious meal. But as American ex-pat Tabitha Knight and chef-in-training Julia Child discover, celebrations can quickly go awry when someone has murder in mind...

Set in midcentury Paris and starring Julia Child's fictional best friend, this magnifique reimagining of the iconic chef's years at Le Cordon Bleu blends a delicious murder mystery with a unique culinary twist.

The graceful domes of Sacré Coeur, the imposing cathedral of Notre Dame, the breathtaking Tour Eiffel...Paris is overflowing with stunning architecture. Yet for Tabitha Knight, the humble building that houses the Cordon Bleu cooking school, where her friend Julia studies, is just as notable. Tabitha is always happy to sample Julia's latest creation and try to recreate dishes for her Grand-père and Oncle Rafe.

The legendary school also holds open demonstrations, where the public can see its master chefs at work. It's a treat for any aspiring cook - until one of the chefs pours himself a glass of wine from a rare vintage bottle - and promptly drops dead in front of Julia, Tabitha, and other assembled guests. It's the first in a frightening string of poisonings that turns grimly personal when cyanide-laced wine is sent to someone very close to Tabitha.

What kind of killer chooses such a means of murder, and why? Tabitha and Julia hope to find answers in order to save innocent lives - not to mention a few exquisite vintages - even as their investigation takes them through some of the darkest corners of France's wartime past..."

I've been a fan of Colleen's under many different names for years I'm so glad so many people are embracing this new series of hers!

Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Downstairs Girl comes a YA murder mystery noir set in 1930s Los Angeles's Chinatown.

LOS ANGELES, 1932: Lulu Wong, star of the silver screen and the pride of Chinatown, has a face known to practically everyone, especially the Chow sisters - May, Gemma, and Peony - Lulu's former classmates and neighbors. So the girls instantly know it's Lulu when they discover a body one morning in an out-of-the-way stable, far from the Beverly Hills home where she lived after her fame skyrocketed.

The sisters suspect Lulu's death is the result of foul play, but the police don't seem motivated to investigate. Even worse, there are signs that point to a cover-up, and powerful forces in the city want to frame the killing as evidence that Chinatown is a den of iniquity and crime, even more reason it should be demolished to make room for the construction of a new railway depot, Union Station.

Worried that neither the police nor the papers will treat Lulu fairly - no matter her fame and wealth - the sisters set out to solve their friend's murder themselves, and maybe save their neighborhood in the bargain. But with Lulu's killer still on the loose, the girls' investigation just might put them square in the crosshairs of a cold-blooded murderer."

Old Hollywood glamor meets a killer! Oh, I can't wait!

The Flower Sisters by Michelle Collins Anderson
Published by: John Scognamiglio Book
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Drawing on the little-known true story of one tragic night at an Ozarks dance hall in the author's Missouri hometown, this beautifully written, endearingly nostalgic novel picks up 50 years later for a folksy, character-driven portrayal of small-town life, split second decisions, and the ways family secrets reverberate through generations.

Daisy Flowers is fifteen in 1978 when her free-spirited mother dumps her in Possum Flats, Missouri. It's a town that sounds like roadkill and, in Daisy's eyes, is every bit as dead. Sentenced to spend the summer living with her grandmother, the wry and irreverent town mortician, Daisy draws the line at working for the family business, Flowers Funeral Home. Instead, she maneuvers her way into an internship at the local newspaper where, sorting through the basement archives, she learns of a mysterious tragedy from fifty years earlier...

On a sweltering, terrible night in 1928, an explosion at the local dance hall left dozens of young people dead, shocking and scarring a town that still doesn't know how or why it happened. Listed among the victims is a name that's surprisingly familiar to Daisy, revealing an irresistible family connection to this long-ago accident.

Obsessed with investigating the horrors and heroes of that night, Daisy soon discovers Possum Flats holds a multitude of secrets for a small town. And hardly anyone who remembers the tragedy is happy to have some teenaged hippie asking questions about it - not the fire-and-brimstone preacher who found his calling that tragic night; not the fed-up police chief; not the mayor's widow or his mistress; not even Daisy's own grandmother, a woman who's never been afraid to raise eyebrows in the past, whether it's for something she's worn, sworn, or done for a living.

Some secrets are guarded by the living, while others are kept by the dead, but as buried truths gradually come into the light, they'll force a reckoning at last.

Inspired by the true story of the Bond Dance Hall explosion, a tragedy that took place in the author's hometown of West Plains, Missouri on April 13, 1928.

The cause of the blast has never been determined."

True Crime merged with fiction, how did they know what I wanted to read?

Death and Glory by Will Thomas
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In 1894, Cyrus Barker, London's premier enquiry agent, is entangled in a conspiracy to revive the American Civil War by prominent figures, long believed deceased.

Private Enquiry agent Cyrus Barker, along with his partner Thomas Llewelyn, has a long, accomplished history - he's taken on cases for Scotland Yard, the Foreign Office, and even the crown itself, fulfilling them all with great skill and discretion. None of those cases, however, are as delicate and complicated as the one laid before him by a delegation of men who, thirty years before, fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. These men want to revive the Confederacy with a warship promised to the Rebels from the British Government in 1865. To get it now, they're threatening to reveal the long-secret treaty with the Confederacy. Barker is hired to use his connections to discreetly bring their threats to the Prime Minister.

With a web of prominent, if secret, supporters throughout England ready to through their support to their efforts to wage war anew on the United States, the delegates are just waiting for the warship to begin their plans. But some of the men are not who they claim to be, and the American government has their own team watching, and waiting, for the right moment to take action.

As this fuse on this powder keg of a situation grows ever shorter, it's up to Barker and Llewelyn to uncover the real identities and plans of these dangerous men."

I'm always here for the new Will Thomas book!

Dark Parts of the Universe by Samuel Miller
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Outer Banks meets Bone Gap in New York Times bestselling author Samuel Miller's propulsive and genre-bending YA mystery, following a group of teenagers who discover a dead body while playing an app-based adventure game that sends players to "random" locations, unlocking a much deeper mystery about their small town.

In Calico Springs, Willie's life has been defined by two powerful forces: God and the river. The "miracle boy" died for five minutes as a young child, and ever since, Willie is certain he survived for a reason, but that purpose didn't become clear until he found the Game.

The Game is called Manifest Atlas, and the concept is simple: enter an intention and the Game provides a target - a blinking blue dot on the map. Willie's second time playing Manifest Atlas, his intention takes him to an ominous target: three empty graves. Willie is sure the Game is telling him he's going to die.

Willie's older brother, Bones, doesn't believe him, but their friends are intrigued. Sarai, a girl from across the river, sets the next intention: something bloody. The group follows the Game's coordinates and they discover something even more unsettling than the graves: a dead body. Sarai's stepfather's body. The Game is suddenly personal.

Willie is dedicated to proving the Game works while Sarai is set on finding out what happened to her stepdad. Bones just wants to enjoy his last summer before real life begins. As the group digs deeper into Manifest Atlas, stranger and wilder things begin to appear, unlocking a much deeper mystery running like an undercurrent through the small town."

I mean, maybe run as soon as an app sends you to a crime scene?

Blood Justice by Terry J. Benton-Walker
Published by: Tom Doherty Associates/Tor Publishing Group
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Blood Justice is the hotly anticipated sequel to Terry J. Benton-Walker's Most Anticipated debut Blood Debts.

Cristina and Clement Trudeau have conjured the impossible: justice.

They took back their family's stolen throne to lead New Orleans' magical community into the brighter future they all deserve.

But when Cris and Clem restored their family power, Valentina Savant lost everything. Her beloved grandparents are gone and her sovereignty has been revoked - she will never be Queen. Unless, of course, someone dethrones the Trudeaus again. And lucky for her, she's not the only one trying to take them down.

Cris and Clem have enemies coming at them from all directions: Hateful anti-magic protesters sabotage their reign at every turn. A ruthless detective with a personal vendetta against magical crime is hot on their tail just as Cris has discovered her thirst for revenge. And a brutal god, hunting from the shadows, is summoned by the very power Clem needs to protect the boy he loves.

Cris's hunger for vengeance and Clem's desire for love could prove to be their family's downfall, all while new murders, shocking disappearances, and impossible alliances are changing the game forever.

Welcome back to New Orleans, where gods walk among us and justice isn't served, it's taken."

Power is always so hard to maintain.

The Garden Girls by Jessica R. Patch
Published by: Love Inspired Trade
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"On a remote Outer Banks island, a serial killer collects his prized specimens. And to stop him, an FBI agent must confront his own twisted past.

FBI agent Tiberius Granger has seen his share of darkness. But a new case sets him on edge. It's not just the macabre way both victims - found posed in front of lighthouses - are tattooed with flowers that match their names. There's also the unsettling connection to the woman Ty once loved and to the shadowy cult they both risked everything to escape.

Bexley Hemmingway's sister has gone missing, and she'll do anything to find her - including teaming up with Ty. That may prove a mistake, and not just because Ty doesn't know he's the father of her teenaged son. It seems the killer is taunting Ty, drawing everyone close to him into deeper danger.

As the slashing winds and rain of a deadly hurricane approach the coast of North Carolina, the search leads Ty and Bex to an island that hides a grisly secret. But in his quest for the truth, Ty has ignored the fact that this time, he's not just the hunter. Every move has been orchestrated by a killer into a perfect storm of terror, and they will need all their skills to survive..."

How did he get into the FBI with a past in a shadowy cult?

A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A charming fantasy set in an underwater world with magical academia and a heartwarming penpal romance, perfect for fans of A Marvellous Light, Emily Wilde's Encylopaedia of Faeries and The House in the Cerulean Sea.

A beautiful discovery outside the window of her underwater home prompts the reclusive E. to begin a correspondence with renowned scholar Henerey Clel. The letters they share are filled with passion, at first for their mutual interests, and then, inevitably, for each other.

Together, they uncover a mystery from the unknown depths, destined to transform the underwater world they both equally fear and love. But by no mere coincidence, a seaquake destroys E.'s home, and she and Henerey vanish.

A year later, E.'s sister Sophy, and Henerey's brother Vyerin, are left to solve the mystery, piecing together the letters, sketches and field notes left behind - and learn what their siblings' disappearance might mean for life as they know it.

Inspired, immersive, and full of heart, this charming epistolary tale is an adventure into the depths of a magical sea and the limits of the imagination from a marvelous debut voice."

I mean, I can't be the only one who's dreamed of living under the sea?

The Stranger I Wed by Harper St. George
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New to wealth and to London high society, American heiress Cora Dove discovers that with the right man, marriage might not be such an inconvenience after all....

Cora Dove and her sisters' questionable legitimacy has been the lifelong subject of New York's gossipmongers and a continual stain on their father's reputation. So when the girls each receive a generous, guilt-induced dowry from their dying grandmother, the sly Mr. Hathaway vows to release their funds only if Cora and her sisters can procure suitable husbands - far from New York. For Cora, England is a fresh start. She has no delusions of love, but a husband who will respect her independence? That's an earl worth fighting for.

Enter: Leopold Brendon, Earl of Devonworth, a no-nonsense member of Parliament whose plan to pass a Public Health bill that would provide clean water to the working class requires the backing of a wealthy wife. He just never expected to crave Cora's touch or yearn to hear her thoughts on his campaign - or to discover that his seemingly perfect bride protects so many secrets....

But secrets have a way of bubbling to the surface, and Devonworth has a few of his own. With their pasts laid bare and Cora's budding passion for women's rights taking a dangerous turn, they'll learn the true cost of losing their heart to a stranger - and that love is worth any price."

To fill that void until the new season of The Buccaneers drops!

A Duke of One's Own by Emma Orchard
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Kindle, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Summer, 1816. A notorious rebel is about to meet her match...

Lady Georgiana Pendlebury is no stranger to breaking the rules of polite society. But when a so-called 'friend' invites her to a clandestine party, Georgiana is shocked to discover the event is more scandalous than even she could have imagined. So when a mysterious stranger offers help, she accepts, not realising their encounter will turn her life upside down.

Later that summer, Georgiana is invited to attend a house party at an infamous castle in Yorkshire. The gathering is a loosely veiled effort to arrange a marriage for the Duke of Northriding, who desperately needs an heir. Duke Gabriel Mauleverer has a terrible reputation as a rake, and Georgiana is happy to be a guest purely for the entertainment, but upon arrival, she is shocked to discover that the Duke is none other than the stranger who rescued her weeks earlier.

As the other ladies vie for the Duke's attention, Georgiana is desperate to avoid their shocking secret getting out. But she finds herself caught, unable to avoid Gabriel's gaze. Are they a threat to each other? Or could they be the answer to each other’s greatest desires?"

I love the title and cover so very very much.

Earl's Trip by Jenny Holiday
Published by: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ted Lasso meets Bridgerton for a 19th century spin on The Hangover in USA Today bestselling author Jenny Holiday's laugh-out-loud bromantic comedy featuring three Regency-era Earls on their annual trip - ride-or-die buddies offering one another unconditional support in everything from Lady problems to family woes.

The perfect romp for fans of Evie Dunmore, India Holton, Virginia Heath, Manda Collins, and Suzanne Allain!

Even an earl needs his ride-or-dies, and Archibald Fielding-Burton, the Earl of Harcourt, counts himself lucky to have two. The annual trip that Archie takes with his BFFs Simon and Effie holds a sacred spot in their calendars. This year Archie is especially eager to get away until an urgent letter arrives from an old family friend, begging him to help prevent a ruinous scandal. Suddenly the trip has become earls-plus-girls, as Archie's childhood pals, Clementine and Olive Morgan, are rescued en route to Gretna Green.

This...complicates matters. The fully grown Clementine, while as frank and refreshing as he remembers, is also different to the wild, windswept girl he knew. This Clem is complex and surprising - and adamantly opposed to marriage. Which, for reasons Archie dare not examine too closely, he finds increasingly vexing.

Then Clem makes him an indecent and quite delightful proposal, asking him to show her the pleasures of the marriage bed before she settles into spinsterhood. And what kind of gentleman would he be to refuse a lady?"

I'd say this book exudes some Kenergy!

Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Discover the work of the greatest writer in the English language as you've never encountered it before by pre-ordering internationally renowned actor Dame Judi Dench's Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent - a witty, insightful journey through the plays and tales of our beloved Shakespeare.

Taking a curtain call with a live snake in her wig...

Cavorting naked through the Warwickshire countryside painted green...

Acting opposite a child with a pumpkin on his head...

These are just a few of the things Dame Judi Dench has done in the name of Shakespeare.

For the very first time, Judi opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played throughout her seven-decade career, from Lady Macbeth and Titania to Ophelia and Cleopatra. In a series of intimate conversations with actor and director Brendan O'Hea, she guides us through Shakespeare's plays with incisive clarity, revealing the secrets of her rehearsal process and inviting us to share in her triumphs, disasters, and backstage shenanigans.

Interspersed with vignettes on audiences, critics, company spirit and rehearsal room etiquette, she serves up priceless revelations on everything from the craft of speaking in verse to her personal interpretations of some of Shakespeare's most famous scenes, all brightened by her mischievous sense of humour, striking level of honesty and a peppering of hilarious anecdotes, many of which have remained under lock and key until now.

Instructive and witty, provocative and inspiring, this is ultimately Judi's love letter to Shakespeare, or rather, The Man Who Pays The Rent."

It's Judi Dench, it's Shakespeare. What more needs to be said? Go. Buy.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anne Hillerman, Colleen Cambridge, Elly Griffiths, Emma Orchard, Harper St. George, Jenny Holiday, Judi Dench, Michelle Collins Anderson, Samuel Miller, Stacey Lee, Terry J. Benton-Walker, Will Thomas

Murder at Teal's Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery That Inspired Twin Peaks by David Bushman and Mark T. Givens
Published by: Thomas and Mercer
Publication Date: December 28th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 335 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Hazel Drew wasn't found wrapped in plastic. She was found floating in a pond in Sand Lake, New York, on July 7th, 1908 by a group of campers. She had been beaten to death. But there was never a verdict of murder, there was one of suicide. Which suited everyone with something to hide just fine. She lived in Troy, New York, only fourteen miles from where her body was found, and that is where her death was hushed up. The town was staunchly Republican and the politics of the town were mired in corruption. As was the police. They had no interest in discovering what really happened to Hazel Drew. Instead they barely investigated at all, listening to unreliable witnesses, going after red herrings, and a wild goose or two. They never worked diligently to follow up promising leads instead focusing on impugning the reputation of Hazel herself. The victim blaming wasn't hard, she had an unsavory past and it is quite possible she was blackmailing the wealthy of Troy. But does that mean her murder should be hushed up? Yes it does. Because the truth is dangerous, as was the spectacle her death caused, with newspapers rushing reporters to the scene. And murder in a small town means one thing, that that small town isn't as it appears. Troy wanted to be viewed as the perfect American town. But underneath they were anything but. And Hazel got in their way, Hazel knew their secrets. Because in the end that is what so many murders come down to. Who are you endangering by continuing to live? Hazel was dangerous to someone. Perhaps someone powerful. Therefore her case was hushed up and forgotten about. Though stories still persisted. Urban legends and ghost stories. Mark Frost spent summers near Teal's Pond and his grandmother would tell him stories about the unsolved murder of the beautiful young girl. An idea planted in his head long ago that would evolve into the murder of Laura Palmer that had America transfixed. While Laura got her justice isn't it about time Hazel got hers?

I picked up this book for one reason and one reason only, it's supposed connection to Twin Peaks. I honestly can say I think this was all a marketing ploy by the writers. Sure, they somehow got Mark Frost to write a forward, but throughout that forward he's saying how he really didn't use Hazel Drew's murder for inspiration at all. Um... So... Why do the forward then? Your grandmother told you an urban legend once and it kind of stuck? I mean, I do think that Frost was inspired by this case, I just think it's connection is tenuous and was used to sell a very boring and inconclusive true crime book. Also, having someone who is a legit writer write your forward and then following it up with amateurish and repetitive writing, that's not a good look. The thing is, this book does a good job of setting up the time period. You get an indepth look at the history of Troy and how it was indicative of small town America at the turn of the last century. But that's all it does. Instead of writing the story chronologically they decided to go thematically. OK, that's a choice. I'm not saying it's the right one but it is one. I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara took a similar approach. But you know what she did so she wouldn't confuse her readers? She had an actual timeline of the investigation right at the front of the book. You know, where it would have been nice to actually have a map as well... As for "solving" the case? Can drawing a valid conclusion without actually supporting it with any new evidence be called solving it? You have a fine line to thread when writing true crime, especially when dealing with cold cases. You actually have to give the reader something to justify their time and energy. Going back to Michelle McNamara, her work literally caught The Golden State Killer. Sure, the investigation was heading in the right direction and pieces were being put in place, but without her, without her pushing, without her constantly keeping the focus on those cases would it have been solved? Well, I can't honestly say, but I think she is what might have been the missing piece. Her dedication. Her resolve. Here we don't get anything from the authors. At the very least we should have felt a connection to Hazel. The authors say at the very end that this book was about Hazel. It wasn't. It was about powerful white men doing what they've always done, removing roadblocks in their way. Either find the killer and present them to the cold light of day or shine a light on the life that was lost. In other words, don't do this.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: David Bushman, For the Love of Book Clubs, Hazel Drew, I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Laura Palmer, Mark Frost, Mark T. Givens, Michelle McNamara, Murder at Teal's Pond, True Crime, Twin Peaks, Victim Blaming

You've Got Red on You: How Shaun of the Dead Was Brought to Life by Clark Collis
Published by: 1984 Publishing
Publication Date: November 23rd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 424 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Shaun of the Dead is one of those films like Twister that whenever you catch it on TV while flipping the channels you can't help but keep watching it. The humor, the pacing, the pathos, the music, everything is perfection. I dare you to listen to "Don't Stop Me Now" without wishing you had a pool cue in your hand. Of course it wasn't an easy film to make. At the time Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg were only known for their quirky cult comedy Spaced and here they were pitching a major motion picture that was very zombie niche. In fact, they would have been happy had this film only had an audience of one if that audience was George Romero. And if he liked it. They really wanted him to like it. This was an epic love letter to the man and the aesthetic he had created. But it took a lot of convincing to get everyone on board with their vision. At times the studio was pushing for "names." Which means, in an alternate universe Nick Frost isn't in this film but for some reason Gillian Anderson is. Which could have been a little awkward given how Tim Bisley felt about Dana Scully.... With new interviews from the cast and crew and complete access to Edgar Wright, You've Got Red on You shows a detailed behind the scenes picture of how this zomromcom came to life. The long hours shooting without air conditioning. The people whose entire job was just to maintain blood spatter continuity. What it's like being covered in blood spatter in that heat. The fact that David Bowie was really "funny" about the Labyrinth soundtrack and therefore a zombie was attacked with the Batman Soundtrack instead. I mean, Prince was their first choice, but it didn't hurt to have a backup. And then once the film was wrapped, would anyone watch it? Thankfully George Romero approved and anything else was a slice of fried gold. They didn't realize though that it would be so successful. But this was down to clever marketing. In order to break the US the trio of Pegg, Wright, and Frost toured the US. They did an old fashioned hard sell going town to town, and because of this they didn't just create a fanbase, they created true fans. Fans that would come out on their next two tours when they promoted Hot Fuzz and The World's End. Fans that would repeatedly buy all the different versions of the film that were released and would follow them to the ends of the Earth. Or at least to the pub on a Sunday afternoon.

I don't know how I first heard of Shaun of the Dead, I'm guessing a trailer before another movie in the summer of 2004, but I was an early convert. I was a member of the "Shaun Street Squad" which was a website designed to spread the word about the film and where you could earn sweet sweet swag by doing fan art and fanfic. And yes, I actively participated, cashing in my points for a pint glass and then some. And then opening day I was there in the theater having dragged my friend Matt along with me to see this film everyone was talking about. After that first viewing I became an acolyte of Simon Pegg's. Spaced, Hippies, Asylum, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), and branching out, Black Books, and Little Britain, where Monty Python, Red Dwarf, and Blackadder were my formative years of British sitcom, Simon Pegg came in to inform my early post college years. So I had one question going into this book, could it give me any revelations? The answer is not really. Aside from David being written for David Walliams, which makes everything make sense to me. But it's such a well laid out and eminently readable history of the film that a lack of anything new didn't really bother me. It was also, for the most part, pretty unbiased, showing Edgar warts and all with an ongoing feud he had with the director of photography David Dunlap. And while Edgar admits to this feud Edgar himself might be the only real problem with this book in that it was Edgar's voice that was predominate. His view of how things happened. Yes, others were interviewed, but Edgar's voice and Clark Collis's reverence for him carried the narrative. And as for Collis.... It's his inferences in the end that make the book not achieve it's full potential. Because in the final analysis the author places too much cultural importance on Shaun of the Dead. Yes, it's was culturally important in bringing about the more romcom side of zombies, but was it THE REASON that zombies because popular again? No. That would be 28 Days Later and The Walking Dead comics, which were released in 2002 and 2003 respectively, whereas Shaun of the Dead was released in April 2004 in England, us in the states had to wait for a fall release. Also, I found it odd that Collis never once mentions iZombie which in comic and televisual form were both heavily influenced by Shaun of the Dead. And of course THE MOST IMPORTANT FACT was omitted from this book. Because of Shaun of the Dead we got Hot Fuzz, perhaps the most perfect movie ever.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 28 Days Later, Clark Collis, Edgar Wright, For the Love of Book Clubs, George Romero, Hot Fuzz, iZombie, Nick Frost, Shaun of the Dead, Simon Pegg, Spaced, The Walking Dead, You've Got Red on You, Zombies

Oxford by Matthew Rice
Published by: Frances Lincoln
Publication Date: April 16th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Discover Oxford, one of the jewels of European architecture. Much loved and much visited, the city offers an unparalleled collection of the best of English building through the centuries.

Matthew Rice's Oxford is a feast of delightful watercolour illustrations and an informed and witty text, explaining how the city came into being and what to look out for today.

While the focus is on architectural detail, Rice describes how the city has been shaped by its history, topography and geology, but most of all by generations of patrons who had the education and the resources to commission work from the greatest architects and builders of their day, an astonishing range of which still stands.

Ranging from the medieval to the contemporary, the book covers all the iconic buildings, such as the Radcliffe Camera, the Sheldonian Theatre and the college quads, as well as the distinctive details that you might otherwise miss.

More than anywhere else in England, it is possible in Oxford to take in the history of English architecture simply by walking today's streets, lanes, parks and meadows. This book is the perfect guide."

I have been wanting this book for ages and even contemplated ordering from abroad, but now, thankfully, it's finally available stateside.

The Broken Afternoon by Simon Mason
Published by: Quercus Publishing
Publication Date: April 16th, 2024
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A SHOCKING DISAPPEARANCE
A four-year-old girl goes missing in plain sight outside her nursery in Oxford, a middle-class, affluent area, her mother only a stones-throw away.

A TRIGGERING RESPONSE
Ryan Wilkins, one of the youngest ever Detective Inspectors in the Thames Valley force, dishonourably discharged three months ago, watches his former partner DI Ray Wilkins deliver a press conference, confirming a lead.

A DARK WEB
Ray begins to delve deeper, unearthing an underground network of criminal forces in the local area. But while Ray's investigation stalls Ryan brings his unique talents to unofficial and quite illegal inquiries which will bring him into a confrontation with the very officials who have thrown him out of the force."

And speaking of Oxford... They're saying Wilkins is the new Morse. We shall see. We shall see.

What Cannot Be Said by C.S. Harris
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: April 16th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A seemingly idyllic summer picnic ends in a macabre murder that echoes a pair of slayings fourteen years earlier in this riveting new historical mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of Who Cries for the Lost.

July 1815: The Prince Regent's grandiose plans to celebrate Napoléon's recent defeat at Waterloo are thrown into turmoil when Lady McInnis and her daughter Emma are found brutally murdered in Richmond Park, their bodies posed in a chilling imitation of the stone effigies once found atop medieval tombs. Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy immediately turns to his friend Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help with the investigation. For as Devlin discovers, Lovejoy's own wife and daughter were also murdered in Richmond Park, their bodies posed in the same bizarre postures. A traumatized ex-soldier was hanged for their killings. So is London now confronting a malicious copyist? Or did Lovejoy help send an innocent man to the gallows?

Aided by his wife, Hero, who knew Lady McInnis from her work with poor orphans, Devlin finds himself exploring a host of unsavory characters from a vicious chimney sweep to a smiling but decidedly lethal baby farmer. Also coming under increasing scrutiny is Sir Ivo McInnis himself, along with a wounded Waterloo veteran - who may or may not have been Laura McInnis's lover - and a charismatic young violinist who moonlights as a fencing master and may have formed a dangerous relationship with Emma. But when Sebastian's investigation turns toward man about town Basil Rhodes, he quickly draws the fury of the Palace, for Rhodes is well known as the Regent's favorite illegitimate son.

Then Lady McInnis's young niece and nephew are targeted by the killer, and two more women are discovered murdered and arranged in similar postures. With his own life increasingly in danger, Sebastian finds himself drawn inexorably toward a conclusion far darker and more horrific than anything he could have imagined."

You know, there are just not enough evil baby farmers in literature anymore.

The Montford Maniac by M.R.C. Kasasian
Published by: Canelo
Publication Date: April 16th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 365 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A crazed killer. A town in terror. A mystery ten years in the making...

Lady Violet Thorn's awful Aunt Igitha arrives uninvited to stay, wreaking havoc in the household. When Violet plucks up courage to ask her to leave, Igitha's chilling threats are soon realised with deadly effect.

In a devastating series of events, a woman is impaled, another is hanged outside Violet's window, and a wild beast is delivered to her house.

Violet is soon struck by the similarities between these events, and the unsolved murders committed ten years earlier by the sadistic serial killer known as the Montford Maniac.

Could he have returned? Is Igitha behind the crimes? Or could there be someone even more terrifying on the prowl? The horrors have only just begun.

A rollicking, unputdownable Victorian mystery perfect for fans of Janice Hallett and Anthony Horowitz."

I mean, I think my breaking point would be the corpse hanged outside my window...

Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: April 16th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In New York Times bestselling author Anthony Horowitz's ingenious fifth literary whodunnit in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series, Detective Hawthorne is once again called upon to solve an unsolvable case - a gruesome murder in an idyllic gated community in which suspects abound.

Riverside Close is a picture-perfect community. The six exclusive and attractive houses are tucked far away from the noise and grime of city life, allowing the residents to enjoy beautiful gardens, pleasant birdsong, and tranquility from behind the security of a locked gate.

It is the perfect idyll, until the Kentworthy family arrives, with their four giant, gas-guzzling cars, gaggle of shrieking children, and plans for a garish swimming pool in the backyard. Obvious outsiders, the Kentworthys do not belong in Riverside Close, and quickly offend every last one of the neighbors.

When Charles Kentworthy is found dead on his own doorstep, a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest, Detective Hawthorne is the only investigator they can call to solve the case.

Because how do you solve a murder when everyone is a suspect?"

And speaking of Anthony Horowitz...

You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: April 16th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this heart-pounding debut thriller for fans of Lisa Jewell and Celeste Ng, a first-generation Vietnamese American artist must confront nightmares past and present....

Annie "Anh Le" Shaw grew up poor, but seems to have it all now: a dream career, a stunning home, and a devoted husband and daughter. When Annie's mother, a Vietnam War refugee, dies suddenly one night, Annie's carefully curated life begins to unravel. Her obsessive-compulsive disorder, which she thought she'd vanquished years ago, comes roaring back - but this time, the disturbing fixations swirling around in Annie's brain might actually be coming true.

A prominent art patron disappears, and the investigation zeroes in on Annie. Spiraling with self-doubt, she distances herself from her family and friends, only to wake up in a hotel room - naked, next to a lifeless body. The police have more questions, but with her mind increasingly fractured, Annie doesn't have answers. All she knows is this: She will do anything to protect her daughter - even if it means losing herself.

With dizzying twists, You Know What You Did is both a harrowing thriller and a heartfelt exploration of the refugee experience, the legacies we leave for our children, and the unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters."

Personally I'm in to for the journey as to how OCD leads to you waking up naked next to a corpse. Because that hasn't been my experience. Yet.

Wicche Hunt by Seana Kelly
Published by: NYLA
Publication Date: April 16th, 2024
Format: Kindle, 340 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"I'm Arwyn Cassandra Corey, the Sea Wicche of Monterey. Want a psychic reading? Sure. I can do that. In the market for art? I have all your painting, photography, glass blowing, and ceramic needs covered in my newly remodeled art gallery by the sea. Need help solving a grisly cold case? Unfortunately, I can probably help with that too.

After more than a decade of being nagged, guilted, and threatened, I've finally joined the Corey Council and am working with my mother and grandmother to hunt down a twisted sorcerer. We know who she is. Now we need to find and stop her before more are murdered.

The evil the sorcerer and her demon are doing is seeping into the community. Violent crimes have been increasing and as a result Detectives Hernández and Osso have brought me another horrifying case. I'll do what I can, because of course I will. What are a few more nightmares to a woman who barely sleeps?

Declan Quinn, the wicked hot werewolf rebuilding my deck, is preparing for a dominance battle with the local Alpha. A couple of wolves have already left their pack to follow Declan, recognizing him as the true Alpha. Declan needs to watch his back as the full moon approaches. The current Alpha will do whatever it takes to hold on to power, including breaking pack law and enlisting the help of a local vampire.

And if Wilbur, my selkie friend is right, I might just be meeting my dad soon. Perhaps he’ll have some advice for this wicche hunt. I'm going to need all the help I can get."

Such a fan of Seana Kelly!

Merciless Saviors by H.E. Edgmon
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: April 16th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The stunning conclusion to the Ouroboros series, a contemporary fantasy duology in which a teen, Gem, finds out they're a reincarnated god from another world.

That day at the First Church of Gracie changed everything for Gem Echols, and not just because Marian and Poppy betrayed them. Forced to use the Ouroboros knife on Zephyr, who had kidnapped their parents, Gem now has the power of the God of Air.

While for any other god things might work out okay, the Magician - whose role within the pantheon is to keep the balance - having the power of another god has thrown everything into chaos. The Goddess of Death can now reanimate corpses; the God of Art's powers are now corrupted and twisted, giving life to his macabre creations; and, while the God of Land has always been able to communicate with creatures of the Earth, now everyone can hear their cries.

As Gem, Rory, and Enzo search for a way to restore the balance without sacrificing themselves, new horrors make them question how far they're willing to go. In the end, Gem may be forced to fully embrace their merciless nature and kill off their own humanity - if it ever really existed in the first place."

I like that the God of Art is giving off some serious Dorian Gray vibes.

Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina
Published by: Berkley Books
Publication Date: April 16th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A man lunges in front of a car. An elderly woman silently drowns herself. A corpse sits up in its coffin and speaks. On this reservation, not all is what it seems, in this new spine-chilling mythological horror from the author of Sisters of the Lost Nation.

All Noemi Broussard wanted was a fresh start. With a new boyfriend who actually treats her right and a plan to move from the reservation she grew up on - just like her beloved Uncle Louie before her - things are finally looking up for Noemi. Until the news of her boyfriend's apparent suicide brings her world crumbling down.

But the facts about Roddy's death just don't add up, and Noemi isn't the only one who suspects that something menacing might be lurking within their tribal lands.

After over a decade away, Uncle Louie has returned to the reservation, bringing with him a past full of secrets, horror, and what might be the key to determining Roddy's true cause of death. Together, Noemi and Louie set out to find answers...but as they get closer to the truth, Noemi begins to wonder whether it might be best for some secrets to remain buried."

Mythological horror and murder! Yes yes.

My Beloved Monster by Caleb Carr
Published by: Little Brown and Company
Publication Date: April 16th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The #1 bestselling author of The Alienist tells the extraordinary story of Masha, a half-wild rescue cat who fought off a bear, tackled Caleb like a linebacker - and bonded with him as tightly as any cat and human possibly can.

Caleb Carr has had special relationships with cats since he was a young boy in a turbulent household, famously peopled by the founding members of the Beat Generation, where his steadiest companions were the adopted cats that lived with him both in the city and the country. As an adult, he has had many close feline companions, with relationships that have outlasted most of his human ones. But only after building a three-story home in rural, upstate New York did he enter into the most extraordinary of all of his cat pairings: Masha, a Siberian Forest cat who had been abandoned as a kitten, and was languishing in a shelter when Caleb met her. She had hissed and fought off all previous carers and potential adopters, but somehow, she chose Caleb as her savior.

For the seventeen years that followed, Caleb and Masha were inseparable. Masha ruled the house and the extensive, dangerous surrounding fields and forests. When she was hurt, only Caleb could help her. When he suffered long-standing physical ailments, Masha knew what to do. Caleb's life-long study of the literature of cat behavior, and his years of experience with previous cats, helped him decode much of Masha's inner life. But their bond went far beyond academic studies and experience. The story of Caleb and Masha is an inspiring and life-affirming relationship for readers of all backgrounds and interests - a love story like no other."

I usually avoid books about pets because I can't handle knowing they're gone. But this is Caleb Carr, and for him I make an exception. Or should I say the exception is for Masha?

Scribbles, Vol. 3 by Kaoru Mori
Published by: Yen Press
Publication Date: April 16th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 258 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the third volume of this stunning series, Kaoru Mori-author of award-winning series A Bride's Story and Emma - shares works from her personal collection of sketches and concept drawings. From familiar characters and settings to illustrations drawn from Mori's own interests, Scribbles is a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes and into the sketch books of one of Japan's most beloved creators."

Kaoru Mori is a genius. This book is a must buy. Seriously, you MUST BUY IT!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Bride's Story, Anthony Horowitz, C.S. Harris, Caleb Carr, Emma, H.E. Edgmon, Inspector Morse, K.T. Nguyen, Kaoru Mori, M.R.C. Kasasian, Napoleon, Nick Medina, Oxford, Seana Kelly, Sebastian St. Cyr, Simon Mason

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
Published by: Gateway
Publication Date: 1974
Format: Kindle, 403 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Anarres and Urras are the twin inhabited worlds of Tau Ceti. Anarres is barren. Nothing more than a planet to be mined. Yet around two hundred years previously The Odonian Revolution saw Urrasti anarchists settle on Annarres in a peace treaty of sorts. Since then life has been hard for the Annarresti. But they have eked out a living free of the constraints of the capitalist patriarchy on Urras. There is no contact between the two planets except for once a year when Anarres ships Urras their consignment of precious metals. The two planets live in unwavering ignorance. They might need each other, but they will never talk about it. Which is where Shevek enters. Shevek has spent his entire life on Annarres. Despite the hardships of his existence he has a family and a career. He is a physicist attempting to create a General Temporal Theory. He believes that this will revolutionize life for the Annarresti. Yet there is pushback within academic circles. His duty to the Annarresti should come before anything else, before personal power or glory. Therefore Shevek must perform his civic duties, putting the society's needs ahead of his own. For four long years he does punishing physical labor. At the end of that time he gets to return to his true calling. His theory has won him a prestigious award and he has decided to go to Urras to accept it and finish his work. This decision alone causes political unrest. His mentor claims that he is being selfish and threatening the stability of the political separation of the two worlds. And yet Shevek goes. He makes the journey, he gets his vaccinations, he arrives in A-lo and is feted like a returning hero. After all, he is technically coming home. But if he thought he was going to a utopic society he is sadly mistaken. All the troubles that led his ancestors to flee still exist. He's disillusioned by the Ieu Eun University. Will his work really help his people or will it be exploited by the Urrasti? Perhaps it's best for him to just go home. If he can.

I believe as it stands my book club has now read more books by Ursula K. Le Guin than any other author. Getting to discuss so many books of hers with a small group of friends lets us get into the wide variability of her work. Therefore there are hits and there are misses and then there's this. Commies in Space! Yes, yes, I know, perhaps referencing The Muppet Show isn't the most academic or done thing, but, seriously, that's what this book is. But taken to eleven. Yes, I know I've moved onto Spinal Tap, I just can't help myself. The Dispossessed is the sixth book in Le Guin's loosely connected Hainish Cycle. Seeing as I haven't read any of the previous volumes I don't know if they'd add any depth to my understanding of this volume, but I doubt it. It's pretty straightforward if taken to a comical degree. The series started at the height of the sixties when people became disillusioned with American society, so it makes sense that Le Guin would try to work out her feelings about socialism versus capitalism in the far reaches of outer space, which oddly is also where Andy Weir set his book Project Hail Mary. The problem I have is her exaggeration of these two societies. Annarres with it's socialism is like Russia in the bleakest of bleak midwinters only with dust instead of snow. Urras is oddly, kind of like the opulence of the Zamundan court of King Jaffe Joffer from Coming to America. There's pageantry, there's sex, there's lots of female flesh on display. I mean, seriously, what is going on in Urras Le Guin!?! The way you describe female fashion for the upper class I kept envisioning some weird Time Lord getup where the women's breasts were on full display. I mean, what's that about!?! I get the whole, women as property and the men wanting to show them off, but this is a step too far. If it wasn't so serious I'd almost think this was a parody like The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, released the same year as Rocannon's World. But the sad fact is this wants to be "serious literature" and the execution makes it a depressing slog.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anarres, Andy Weir, Capitalism, Communism, For the Love of Book Clubs, General Temporal Theory, Hainish Cycle, Project Hail Mary, Shevak, Socialism, Tau Ceti, The Dispossessed, Time Lords, Urras, Ursula K. Le Gun

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
Published by: Custom House
Publication Date: May 27th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

The death of Cora Seaborne's abusive husband means she can finally cast aside the shackles of the life she was forced into. She can indulge her desire to be the next Mary Anning. Taking her household, which consists of her companion Martha and her disturbed son Francis, to Colchester, she spends her days mucking about the countryside wearing men's boots and unflattering clothing looking for ammonites. Once she even tangled with a man trying to rescue a sheep from the muck. But soon Colchester is abuzz with rumors of the Essex Serpent. It's hunting the estuaries and killing children and pets. Cora doesn't believe in something so fanciful, but she does wonder, could a creature from long ago have survived in an out of the way place to be discovered in the present day? Might she find a living fossil? Science doesn't deny it is possible and her hero, Mary Anning, often hoped to make such a discovery. Cora longs to have her name next to such a find in a museum and therefore jumps at the opportunity that fate hands her. Through mutual friends she is introduced to the Ransomes who live in Aldwinter. As fate would have it the Reverend Will Ransome is the man she helped to rescue the sheep. Despite such an inauspicious beginning the two become fast friends. Cora is fascinated by a pew in his church which is carved to represent the serpent, while Will is incensed by his parishioners obsession with folk tales and threatens to destroy the pew. Will and Cora argue over everything, from religion to science, it is a meeting of true minds. Everyone comments on their closeness, Cora even moves to Aldwinter. Yet Will's wife Stella doesn't seem to mind, and Martha, well Martha has more important things to worry about. But then there's an incident at the school. Cora begs her friend, Doctor Luke Garrett, to come down and investigate the medical reason behind the hysteria. This causes a breach between Cora and Will. A breach that will be healed and ruptured on one fateful night. So while they might not survive, the question remains, does the serpent?

Yes, I fully admit to picking up The Essex Serpent due to Tom Hiddleston. Will Ransome is a role Hiddles was born to play in my mind. But I picked up the book a second time mainly because of that adaptation. Yes, The Essex Serpent was also picked for my book club, but I wanted to wade back into the world of Cora and Will, a world that the adaptation made seem so shallow and hostile. To have wasted such talent on taking a multidimensional book and making it so one-dimensional just infuriates me. Yes, the book is rather light on plot but The Essex Serpent is beautifully and lushly written and has so much substance. It fits more into the style of Gothic literature and romance from the 19th century than what we necessarily think of as Gothic now. The book is all about duality as epitomized by the word "cleave," to cling and to separate all at once. The serpent is both a supernatural entity and a rather large fish. Stella is both dying and luminous. The world runs on both religion and science. Cora and Will's romance is both everything and nothing. Two states of being happening simultaneously. This recurs over and over again, reality versus fallacy. And at one point, the hysteria of Aldwinter with regards to the serpent reaches such a fever pitch that the young schoolgirls act out in a way that would best be described as Salem in 1692. And the fact that the doctor swings in and brings up ergot poisoning made my dorky history heart soar! Because it could very well be hysteria OR ergot OR none of the above. The Essex Serpent is about the mysteries that science hasn't yet explained but even when they eventually are they are still magnificent. Look to the Fata Morgana that Will and Cora saw. They literally saw a ship with red sails sailing across the sky but it is just an optical illusion. Did knowing what it was make it any less amazing? No it didn't. But we go back to the duality of superstition and science, there are those that will meet wonder and invention with hostility and those who will welcome it with open arms. That is why Will is such an interesting character, while he will embrace an illusion in the sky and turn his flock from superstition he still won't embrace medical science. He is the essence of duality. A mystery that resides in us all and will keep me coming back to this book time and time again.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, Aldwinter, Cora Seaborne, Fata Morgana, For the Love of Book Clubs, Living Fossil, Mary Anning, Reverend Will Ransome, Sarah Perry, Science, Superstition, The Essex Serpent, Tom Hiddleston