Looking for Your Next Book

If you've read any of my other reviews of Jeff Noon's John Nyquist series, you already know that these books are really unlike anything else. John Nyquist is a detective who takes on the oddest jobs - or the oddest jobs find him. In either case, Nyquist goes to the most unusual, mind-bending, confusing communities to bring a small sense of order to the disorder around him. In two of my three previous reviews of Noon's book, I compare Noon's worlds with the worlds of Franz Kafka's work.  In case the comparisons weren't obvious enough for some, Noon introduces Nyquist to a resident of this new world by the name of Gregor Samsa who is in the process of turning into a beetle.  We'll also meet Alice Liddell and Mr. Hyde.  If you don't know who any of these people are, you can just skip this review and this book. The locations have been every bit as much a character as the people in Noon's books and that is still true here.  Nyquist is in the city of Delir...

Ellen Cooney's Thanksgiving follows one family through 350 years of Thanksgiving preparations. One family, one house, one room, one meal. Cooney's book connects generations, shares family joys and sorrows and as family items and heirlooms are handed down and sometimes lost, reminds us what is important in life. I have to admit that the first time I started to read this (back in 2013) I was bored early and put it away to try again.  I'm glad I waited and tried again because this time, perhaps fueled by my own interest in family history and genealogy, I was more interested in making the connections and following the family. Seeing how little humans change over the centuries is fascinating. Our technology changes, and perhaps our perception of how we fit into the world changes, but at our core we, as humans, have many of the same concerns, loves, fears, and fervor now as we did 350 years ago. Cooney manages to give us a little bit of the historical backdrop to each chapter (w...

It's almost never good news when the telephone rings in the middle of the night. And when you are Misty Dawn, once the 'Hollywood Psychic to the Stars,' you can be pretty sure that a midnight phone call will be a call for help. Former client, and actress, Dorine Witherspoon, is in town on tour with a musical, but the leading lady, Cassie Marx, has disappeared. Now the understudy is going to have to go - for opening night! Misty heads to the theatre at first light, along with her spirit (ghost) Wilson, and discovers that Cesar Romero - an LAPD detective - is already there and meeting with the cast and crew. And if the circumstances around Cassie's disappearance wasn't strange enough, Misty sees Wilson in a new light as the theatre spirits want nothing to do with him. There's a lot working against Misty, but finding Cassie will save more than a show. I've come to really like author Nancy Cole Silverman's work - based mostly on her Carol Childs Mystery seri...

I once thought that I enjoyed reading epic fantasies - you know books with characters (like sorcerer, priests, and thieves) and storylines that could be pulled from a game of Dungeons and Dragons. But the more I read the more I find them seeming all too much the same, as if they were, well, characters and storylines pulled from a game of Dungeons and Dragons. In Trudi Canavan's Thief's Magic , the first book in a series, we find a world just entering its industrial revolution and, like most fantasy books, this revolution is powered by magic. Here we meet Tyen, an archaeology student who uncovers a special book.  Special because it's a living, intelligent item. Here in this world we also meet Rielle, raised in a community run by priests. Rielle is taught to wield magic. She is aware that she has the ability to steal from the Angels, and there is someone willing to teach her how to do this, but she's not certain she wants to risk the wrath of the Angels. These two come to...

Beatrice Ball loves to sing. She loves it more than anything. When she's not singing she feels empty at best and, because it means dealing with her controlling mother, angry at worst. Beatrice begins to sneak out at night in order to sing incognito. But one night something happens and she wakes up in a hospital ER and learns that her good friend has been murdered. Beatrice has been famous - a household name - practically since the day she was born. With suspicion on her now, her mom hires one of the top attorneys in the country to represent her. This elevates her fame to a whole new level and Beatrice experiences the strange world of the ultra famous Hollywood celebrity. But she can't just live in the circle she's currently in. She either has to keep climbing or suffer a devastating fall from grace. There really isn't much to say about this book. It's quite poorly written and not worth reading. The characters don't stand out in any way. We never believe Beatrice...

Hummingbirds.  Is there any other species of bird that so immediately conjures up images of shimmery colors and blurry wings? Author John Shewey provides a rather thorough look at the group of birds known as hummingbirds, as well as looking at the individual groups of hummingbirds. This is a coffee-table-style book, meaning that it is rich with photos and relatively large text, making it easy to pick up and look at a photo and read just a little bit. It also implies a kind of veneer quality to the material - covering enough to look good without getting too thorough or in-depth. This is probably a pretty apt description, but I also want to be clear ... I liked this book. We don't always need to get deep into the science of ornithology to enjoy a book.  Those kinds of books are also available to those who want it. When you pick up a book about hummingbirds, you want to be able to look at a lot of pictures - to see the colorful variety of the species, and this book definitely pro...

Ah, "An October Daye Novel."  This is a sweet elixir to fans of urban fantasy. October (Toby) is finally planning her wedding to Tybalt, King of Cats, after a long engagement period. But Toby discovers that there is an archaic tradition in Fairie wedding ceremonies that states that the father of the bride must be invited to the wedding or political turmoil could ruin the kingdom. Nothing is ever simple for Toby, is it? This custom holds true for Toby's stepfather (legally her father), Simon Torquill. There are two immediate problems with this.  First, Toby has to find Simon. The two haven't been close lately, and Simon made a deal with the Sea Witch and has been lost since. Then Toby has to help Simon restore his memory in order for him to recognize October as a child he cares for. This is not exactly what Toby wanted to be doing as part of her wedding planning. I really like this series. Author Seanan McGuire is an absolute master. Her storytelling is beyond par and ...

  Swashbuckling steampunk.  That's Romulus Buckle. Romulus Buckle is the captain of a zeppelin which is soaring over the frozen wasteland known as Southern California, where warring clans battle one another for precious supplies. Buckle has worked hard to bring about an alliance between the clans in order put an end to the fighter. But that alliance is tenuous at best and actions taken by the Founders (one of two major organization/factions along with the Imperials) put the peace between clans at risk. Just as Buckle is gearing up for a war - something he would prefer to avid but he will meet it head on if he must - he learns that his long-lost sister is being held captive at a secret base. That base could also hold the secrets to defeating the Founders in the upcoming war. Buckle has no choice but to infiltrate the base. This is the second book in the Romulus Buckle series, though only the first one I've read. I did feel that there was probably information about Buckle and th...

One of my children is very much interested in music and, because I listened to a lot of what we now call 'classic rock', he is also quite fond of this music period. We've talked about it quite often and how I always felt that there was a real strength of music and musicians in the early 1970's. I don't think I realized quite a how strong that period actually was. This is an incredibly detailed account of the pop/rock (with some crossover to other genres) music scene in one very specific year. Author Andrew Grant Jackson has selected 1973 for a reason, which he expresses in the book (I won't spoil the read). I listened to a lot of music on radio in 1973 (there weren't a lot of options for a junior high student back then) and I've long felt that this was a great period for music and Jackson proceeds, month by month, to show just why this really was a remarkable year. Putting it together like this, really provides a nice timeline for everything that was hap...

Freddie Hackett is a message runner for a government office in London in 1941. The job is not without its dangers given the German bombings, but what Freddie didn't expect was to see was an argument ending in murder down at the docks. An air raid delays Freddie, but when he gets to the delivery address he comes face to face with the killer. Freddie goes to the police but they don't take him too seriously (there's no body found in the location) so Freddie seeks out a woman he met once when delivering a message ... Maisie Dobbs. Maisie believes the boy but has to tread carefully as she's currently working, secretly, for a special government agency to assess potential recruits for the French Resistance. Maisie's worlds collide when she spots the killer amidst a power struggle between British Intelligence and French agents. This is the 16th book in the Maisie Dobbs series, but it's the first one I've read.  My wife is a fan of the series and has read them all an...

Sadie Walker is trying to fit in.  She's a new mother and she's looking for a mother and child group so that she can have conversation with adults. But Sadie isn't your typical sweet mother.  She's been un-invited to some of the groups for eating non-organic foods in group, and maybe swearing now and then.  At yet another group of screaming babies and women talking organic foods, Sadie is about to give up even trying when in walks John, a handsome young dad with his child. Maybe the group wasn't so bad? In addition to being good looking, John is outgoing and adventurous and gets many of the women together to go out for a coffee or treat after class. Since having the baby, the relationship between Sadie and her husband has gone down hill. In John, Sadie finds someone who she can talk to. It doesn't hurt that he's pleasant to look at it. And soon John begins flirting with Sadie. John, it seems, has an open relationship with his wife and has a regular partner a...

Humanity was given access to a greater section of the universe when an alien race gave us access to 29 wormholes, bringing humans to twenty-nine new star systems.  What the alien race never mentioned was that another race of beings, now known as the Axiom, controlled every other system in the galaxy. The Axiom are an aggressive, dominating race, but fortunately they've been asleep since humans gone out to the new systems. When communication from the 29th wormhole/system has gone silent most assume it the result of internal strife. But Captain Callie and her crew of White Raven have heard that there might be something else happening at 29 - something that would be much more devastating to humanity - and so they pay a visit  and discover humans who have been grafted with all manner of additional and strange limbs and other parts. The Axiom, it seems, are awake and running a human harvesting facility and making plans to attack full force. This is the third book in author Tim Prat...

  How do you write a review of a Chuck Wendig novel? Answer: write a review as you normally would but periodically, after a description, add "with vengeance."  For instance: In Vultures, the sixth book in Chuck Wendig's Miriam Black series, we find Miriam pregnant and that the The Trespasser has the ability to inhabit both the dead and the living. Fate has decreed that the baby will die, but Miriam is ready to defy fate, with vengeance. If you've read any of the other books in the Miriam Black series you'll want to complete your reading with this series finale. But if you haven't already familiarized yourself with the series or even with author Chuck Wendig, feel free to jump in here at the end, or better yet, go back and start at the beginning with Blackbirds .   Miriam has a special psychic ability - when she touches someone she can see how and when they die - and she's become addicted to using this ability. She is also a highly reluctant help for certai...