Once Upon A Wardrobe by Patti Callahan Henry

 

1950.  England.  Margaret Devonshire is a math prodigy and has just started at Oxford University.  Although she is glad to be there, her heart is still at home and with her little brother, George.  George was born with a damaged heart and the doctors say there is nothing more to be done and that he won't live much longer. Megs goes home every weekend instead of staying in Oxford and making friends.

One weekend, George is very excited.  He has found a new book, The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, and it opens up new worlds for him, homebound as he is.  He is amazed when Megs tells him that the author is a tutor of English at Oxford.  George begs her to go ask him where the story came from.

Megs is very hesitant as she is introverted but there is little she won't do for George.  She seeks out Lewis' home and thus starts a friendship between Megs, C.S. Lewis and his brother.  She goes weekly getting stories for George and learning about Lewis' life.  He refuses to answer her questions directly, instead dropping clues and letting her and George work out the meaning of his novel.

This is my first Patti Callahan Henry novel but it won't be my last.  She has written a lovely tale of the love between siblings, both the Devonshire siblings and the Lewis men.  Along the way, the reader learns of Lewis' life.  Of course, the series that George fell in love with is now acknowledged as one of the classics of children's literature.  Megs also finds Padreig, who becomes the love of her life and who helps her make George's fondest wish come true.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and is heartwarming enough that anyone would come away more content for having read it.

James by Perceival Everett

 

James is a modern retelling of Mark Twain's classic, Huckleberry Finn.  In this one, James, known as Jim in the earlier book, runs away when he hears that his owner is planning to sell him.  Huck also runs away and the two start traveling down the Mississippi.  James is an educated man and in this version, slaves talk as educated individuals do among themselves while using a slave lingo before whites.  He can read and write and his most prized possession is a pencil and some books written by European philosophers that he managed to get away with.

The two have many adventures, several close death encounters on the water with various boats, and encounters with animals and reptiles.  James knows he is being hunted.   The two fall in with some con men who separate the two.  James also sings with a minstrel band that is touring, works in a saw mill, and finally when the two are reunited, shares his biggest secret with Huck.

This book has won many awards, including the Pulitzer.  While interesting, I didn't love it.  Much of the book, especially the second half, felt very rushed to me.  The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead covers the same territory and felt like a more compete experience to me.  Perceival Everett is a professor of English and his work has been awarded much acclaim.  This one will be a major addition to his work and is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Wager by David Grann

 

In 1740, Spain and England were once again at war.  An armada was brought together in England and The Wager was one of the warships.  In addition to the war, a side mission was to track down and capture one of the Spanish treasure ships that sent back silver and other treasures to the homeland once or twice a year.  It was believed that the action should take place in the waters off South America and the armada set sail.

One of the ships was The Wager.  It sailed with around 250 men.  Of interest was a midshipman on one of his first voyages, a younger brother of a noble family and one who would become the grandfather of Lord Bryon, the poet.  There were officers and many regular sailors.  It was difficult to man an armada and press gangs were used in addition to recruitment with many of those being sickly.

One of biggest challenges was the voyage around the Cape Horn.  It could take weeks to get around this feature.  The waves are huge having hundreds of miles to build.  The winds are almost always gale force.  The land underneath came up from hundreds of feet deep to only a few hundred.  All of these factors made the Cape an almost unimaginable passage. It could take weeks to get past it with multiple tries.

The Wager ran onto rocks and crashed.  Some of the men were able to make it ashore onto an inhospitable island.  There was no shelter and little food.  The captain was felt by many of the survivors to be making bad decisions and the group split into his supporters and those opposed.  After months, each of these groups managed to put together a vessel and attempt to sail back to civilization.  Of the 250 men who set off, eventually around thirty returned.  There were accusations of murder and of mutiny.  Whose story would be believed?

David Grann is a nonfiction writer and a staff writer at The New Yorker.  His work is known for meticulous research and bringing history to life as his books read as exciting novels do.  In this case, the vanity and social structures of the time resulted in bad decisions that cost many lives.  This book is recommended for nonfiction readers.  

Outside by Ragnar Jonasson

 Four friends set off for a weekend of hunting, hiking and catching up.  There are three men and a woman.  One owns a touring company, one is an actor and one is a lawyer.  They all went to university together where they met and became friends.  

But there are secrets in the group.  One has a history of rumors about past behavior that follows him.  Another member of the group died a year ago and there are still questions about that.  Some are exaggerating their professional success while others are hiding romances.

When they go out for a day long hike and hunt, a blizzard blows up.  They are barely able to make it to a hut provided by the government for traveler shelter.  But inside the hut is a man sitting with a rifle.  He just sits and stares, refusing to speak.  What now?

This is my first book by Ragnar Jonasson.  I listened to this novel and there are multiple narrators, one for each character.  They pull the action along.  The chapters are short, alternating between the four characters and this also increases the tension.  Jonasson is an Icelandic author and is a lawyer himself as well as translating fourteen of Agatha Christie's novel into his native language.  He has written many bestsellers and this one will be included in that number.  This novel is recommended for mystery readers.

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

 

Cushla and her family live a little ways outside of the armed areas of Belfast in Northern Ireland.  She lives with her mother after her father's death.  The family is Catholic and owns a pub which serves both Catholic and Protestant, soldiers and IRA members and sympathizers.  Cushla is a teacher and wants to live on her own but her mother is drinking way too much these days and needs someone there to watch over her.

One night while helping out her brother at the pub she meets Michael Agnew.  He is nothing that Cusla should want.  He is middle-aged, a married barrister and Protestant.  But there is an immediate flame between the two and soon they are involved in a torrid affair.  Life goes on even in strained circumstances and Cushla meets with Michael by night and teaches by day.

She becomes close with one of her students and then his family.  The young boy is bright and desperate for Cushla's attention and she does what she can to help his family.  He has several siblings, including a brilliant older brother who is dropping out of school to go to work and help the family.  Cushla brings the brother books to read and buys treats for the children and helps with the extras when she can.  The father falls astray of the IRA and is beaten severely which means he can no longer work.  

Can things go on as they are?  Cushla wishes for something to change and then when it does, she wishes it had never changed.  Loving in a war zone isn't for the faint of heart.

Louise Kennedy is recognized as one of bright young voices coming out of Ireland.  I love Irish writers; I think it may be my favorite region for authors.  This book was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction list and named a best book of the year by several publications.  There are several kinds of trespasses.  There is the trespass of loving a man committed elsewhere.  There is the trespass of loving a Protestant and disturbing the balance between Protestant and Catholic in an area that demands everyone take a stand for one side or the other.  I loved this book and hope more people read it.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Art Of Detection by Laurie R. King

 

Kate Martinelli and her police partner, Al Hawkins, have just been handed a new murder to cover.  The victim is Philip Gilbert who makes his money trading in Holmes memorabilia.  He is also the founder of the local Holmes dining club with nine other members.  But now he lies on the Embankment clad only in pajamas and robe.  How did he get there?  Why would he come without dressing?

Once they view the body, both are convinced that Philip was killed elsewhere and brought to the location.  It turns out that he had been waiting for the perfect time to announce his latest acquisition, a never before seen novel written by Arthur Conan Doyle and set in San Francisco.  Doyle had visited the city so it's not beyond the realm of possibility and Gilbert was in the last stages of getting the novel authenticated.  If real, it could be worth a fortune.  Was he killed for this treasure?

Kate and Al read the book and realize that the murder bears traces of the plot of the book, including the location of the victim's body.  Who could have done it?  There's the lawyer who was one of the few Gilbert had told.  There was the former actor who now works for an auction house and was authenticating the novel.  There were several women in the dining club who could be possibilities as well as the remaining men.  Who killed Philip Gilbert?

This is the fifth Kate Martinelli novel in the series.  The reader gets a book within the book as King has included the novel in question, a novel that has the victim involved with a transgender singer on Bowery Row and being a soldier whose assignment included the Embankment.  If they solve the murder in the book, will it help with the Gilbert murder?  I've loved the Martinelli series and I'm sad that King hasn't written more of them, instead focusing on her Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series.  This one indicates King's own keen interest in Sherlock Holmes as her writing career has demonstrated.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

A Mirror Mended by Alix Harrow

 

I guess you think those 'happy endings' happen naturally.  Zinnia Gray is here to tell you that sometimes princesses need a little help in order to live happily ever after.  Zinnia has a degree in folklore and she has helped forty-nine princesses to win their prince and secure their throne.  The fact that living in a fairy tale allows her to ignore her own life and its terminal illness diagnosis has nothing to do with it, or so she would tell you.

But this tale seems different.  Instead of a princess asking for her help, the evil queen has asked Zinnia how to leave the fairy tale.  The queen is evilly gorgeous but she knows that if Snow White becomes queen instead, her future includes dancing in red hot iron shoes until she dies and she'll do anything to survive and avoid that future.  Surely Zinnia can tell her how to escape.

Zinnia is repulsed by the woman but also secretly fascinated by her.  Eva, the name Zinnia gives the queen is fascinating in her quest for survival because that's a topic that is always uppermost in Zinnia's mind as well.  As Eva grudgingly accompanies Zinnia to save the latest Snow White, they encounter friends from some of Zinnia's other rescues and become at least friendly enemies of each other.  Can they learn each others' truths?

I don't think it's possible for Alix Harrow to write a bad book.  She is a Hugo winner and her writing is light yet memorable.  I've loved everything I've read by her and this novel is no different.  She has a lesson to impart but never does so heavy handed.  Zinnia learns that life is to be lived no matter what is coming and love is worth anything.  I listened to this novel and the narrator has exactly the right sarcastic tone to portray Zinnia.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

 

On a distant planet, a company is doing exploration for scientific purposes.  There are two locales for this exploration on different sides of the planet.  Along with the contract, the company arranged for security.  Company security is a SecUnit, something more than a mechanical robot and less than a human.  It has human parts but also mechanical ones.  This SecUnit which calls itself MurderBot is less than stellar; its biggest desire is just to hang out and watch social feeds.

But when the other mission site goes dark, there is evidently something wrong.  MurderBot is not about to let the individuals on his watch get killed.  Together with the captain of the mission, a plan is made to check out the other mission.  When they arrive to find everyone dead, something will have to be done to save everyone and that's Murderbot's prime objective.

This is the first MurderBot novel in the series.  Martha Wells is a well known author in the science fiction and fantasy genres.  Her work has won Huge and Nebula awards.  Readers will emphasize with MurderBot although he is not expected to have any emotions.  Wells explores the issues of what is living and what is artificial intelligence, and how does AI impact everyday life.  This book is recommended for science fiction readers.   

Coram House by Bailey Seybolt

 

Alex Kelley has come north to Lake Champlain to try to revive her career.  Her first true crime book was a bestseller as she solved a long ago cold case.  Her next occurred while her husband was battling a fatal illness and perhaps that was the reason that Alex identified the wrong perpetrator.  The young man she identified was convicted and went to prison only to be vindicated and released after time spent there.  

Now Alex has come to town to fulfill a contract by the prosecutor of a cold case.  Coram House was a Catholic orphanage, run by nuns.  But the small children there did not receive the loving care they should have.  Instead they were starved, sexually abused,  punished cruelly for the least offense and some whisper even killed.  The man who prosecuted the case has never been satisfied with the result and now wants Alex to write the story as his vindication.

The stories that haunt Alex are those of several children said to have been killed.  All center around one nun, Sister Cecile.  One girl reports that she saw the nun push a girl out of the windows she was cleaning while another reports that a young boy, Tommy, was drowned during a 'swimming lesson.' Alex is intrigued with these stories and tries to find the truth after all these years.  There are still people in town who lived at Coram House growing up, a local land developer, an alcoholic bully, a woman who lives out in the country miles from anyone and even a local detective.  None will confirm the rumors and Alex is making no progress on identifying the young boy whose story disappeared along with him.  When Alex finds an elderly woman's body in the water near a hiking trail one morning, she wonders if it is related.  As more bodies turn up, it becomes imperative for Alex to find out the long ago truth which is affecting events today.

Bailey Seybolt has worked as a writer for years, both as a travel writer and a tech writer.  Her career has been more on the nonfiction side and this is her debut novel.  Readers will relate to Alex, whose early promise faded with her big mistake in her second book and who wants to both reclaim her career and solve the mystery, giving the abused children of Coram House justice however delayed.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.   

Head Cases by John McMahon

 

Someone is playing vigilante and killing serial killers.  The first one was a man about to be indicted for three murders when his house caught fire and a body assumed to be him was found.  That was seven years ago and he had been free to roam the country and continue his killing spree until the new killer found him.  The second case was a killer who had just been paroled after decades behind bars.  

PAR is the Pattern And Recognition unit of the FBI.  Gardner Camden works in the unit, sharing with the others some miscue in his career that didn't warrant dismissal but made it better if he was forward facing with the public.  In his case, it was turning in his beloved wife when he found she and her boss were defrauding a bank, giving his partner, a respected FBI agent and her father, a heart attack.  In others, it was disrespect, hitting on the wrong woman, or other mistakes.  

Everyone in PAR has a unique talent.  Gardner has an eidetic memory and sees patterns where others do not.  His partner, Cassie, has the same pattern sensing ability but more on the mathematical side.  Another woman is an Olympic level sharpshooter.  Frank runs the unit and focuses on the big picture.  Gardner is on the spectrum and the only person who really understands him is his mother but she is now hospitalized with dementia.  

To his surprise, Gardner is put in charge of the case, going over Frank's head.  Gardner was the person who had identified the first killer seven years ago and the Director feels that he would have an advantage on finding the killer who believes his mission is to kill other killers.  As the case progresses, it becomes evident that the killer knows much about Gardner's life and that his plan is to also kill off prominent FBI members.  Can Gardner find him?

This is the first book in a new series by the author, who works in marketing when not writing thrillers.  He has another series also.  In this one, the pace is fast and furious, perhaps a bit too frantic but quite engaging.  I'm looking forward to seeing where the PAR unit goes and more of Gardner's life.  I listened to this book and the narrator had the perfect voice to move the story along.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

 

This is the story of Ernest Hemingway's life in Paris in the 1920's.  This was a good time for him.  He was married to Hadley who was probably the love of his life and they had just had their child, Jack, called Bamby.  One could live in Paris very inexpensively and they did.  Hemingway had been in the war but that was over and now he would try to support his family by writing.  He was not writing novels at this point but short stories.

He talks about the people he met and spent time with.  One of the first was Gertrude Stein who had a salon for writers she liked.  She knew everyone and it was a great contact but she would drop people immediately if they disagreed with her.  She not only knew literature but had many wonderful paintings in her house and suggested that Hemingway buy paintings from the artists of his generation before they became famous.

A great friend of his was Ezra Pound, the poet.  Both Pound and Hemingway helped other writers whenever they could and spent time trying to help them get published.  He also spent much time with F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda although he tried to avoid her as much as possible.  He felt that Zelda was jealous of Scott's success and that she tried to keep him drinking and partying as a way of preventing him from working.  

I'm so glad I read this book.  The hype about Hemingway is that only men can enjoy his writing, that it is all masculine posturing.  I found a likeable man in the book, a man who loved his wife and his friends and that worried about the truth of his writing.  This makes me ready to tackle all the Hemingway novels I have waiting on my shelves.  This book is recommended for memoir readers.  

The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham

 

A gang war has broken out in the town where Thorne works.  There are the old school English gang and the new Indian gang.  Can the police step in before everything explodes?  Four men have also been murdered, their backs carved with a huge X.   Is this more of the gang rivalry or is a serial killer at work?

Everything seems to lead back to twenty years ago when a twelve year old girl was burned on her school playground.  She survived but the scars and life afterwards was so horrific that she killed herself later.  The ironic part is that the target wasn't even her; it was the English gang's leader's daughter.  Back then everyone assumed it was the second in command who hired it so that he could push out the leader and he did take command after the attack.  

But now the man who has been in prison for twenty years for the crime is saying that he never did it, that he knows who was behind it and will testify and let the police bring down the gang.  Can he be believed?

This is the fourth Tom Thorne book.  It is different as it portrays a police force in what is probably much more common in their work than the capture of serial killers.  Most cities have gangs and the police are in constant battle with them.  Thorne has a romance but like most of his romances, it seems doomed to be short term.  This book is recommended for mystery readers. 

Drunk On All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

 

Lydia is a translator.  The Logi came to Earth a while back but they can't communicate with most humans.  They only talk internally and a specialized trainer is needed to interpret their internal speech into human words.  Lydia translates for the Logi cultural attache Fritz.  That means Lydia gets to go with him to plays, the ballet and other cultural events.  The downside is that translating makes the translator feel drunk although chemically they aren't.  Still, Lydia likes her job and likes Fritz, especially since there are almost no jobs back in her hometown.

One morning Lydia wakes up, goes downstairs to see if Fritz needs her and finds him dead.  It's obvious he has been murdered, shot through the heart.  That's bad.  Even worse is that the house had been locked up so the police assume that Lydia would be their culprit.  

Lydia realizes that if she is to avoid a lifetime behind bars, she will have to find the real culprit.  Who could it be?  Harry who has followed Lydia back to New York after a one night stand?  Someone whose work Fritz declined to support?  Melanie who worked with Fritz but didn't really like him?  Lydia better find the answer before her new residence is a jail cell.

Eddie Robson is known for his work in the science fiction genre.  He has written Dr. Who episodes, podcasts such as Adulting, and books about Fortnite.  In this book, he has created a character in Lydia who is refreshing in her relationship to the world and the reader will sympathize with her and her issues.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did a great job, differentiating each character with a unique voice.  This book is recommended for science fiction fans.

Nona The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

 

Nona lives with her family, Camilla, Palamedes and Pyrrha.  Of course, Camilla and Palamedes share a body but that's okay.  Both love Nona.  Pyrrha is a woman who shaves everyday.  Nona thinks all this is normal as she is only six months old and the body she lives in wasn't hers until then.  It belonged to someone else before, someone strong.  Nona also has a job.  She is a teacher's assistant and loves the teacher called the Angel as do all the kids.  She has also been allowed to join the student gang and that makes her happy.

But things are not good on the planet.  A blue entity hangs over the planet, foretelling disaster.  Nona is supposed to save the planet somehow but she only wants a birthday party and time to snuggle the Angel's dog.  Caught between two raging military forces, can Nona and her family survive?

This is the third book in the Locked Tomb series and was a finalist for both the Hugo and Locus awards.  Tamsyn Muir is a fantasy author from New Zealand who burst upon the fantasy scene with this series.  Readers could read this as a stand alone but in order to get the full effect and understand the story line, would do best to read the preceding two.  Nona is the most approachable of Muir's heroines, a terrifying force in a little girl's body who only wants to be loved.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

Princesses Behaving Badly by Linda Rodriquez McRobbie

 

In this anthology, there are true stories about princesses throughout the ages.  Few of them are recent stories as princesses are not as influential as in the past.  The mini biographies are broken into categories.  They are Warriors, Usurpers, Schemers, Survivors, Partiers, Floozies and Madwomen.  Some women I had heard of, more I had not.  

Linda Rodriquez McRobbie is a journalist and podcaster who specializes in history, health and science topics.  She has also worked in television on shows featuring Sir Issac Newton and another outlining the effects of what are known as 'rubber bullets.'  Her breezy style in this anthology gives the reader the feeling of knowing the various individuals she portrays.  This book is recommended for history readers.  

The Ragpicker King by Cassandra Clare

 

After the massacre that killed Conor's princess fiancé, things have changed.  Conor has become serious, realizing that he will be taking up the crown soon.  His father, the King, has retreated to a tower and hasn't spoken since that night.  It's obvious that he will never rule again.  Conor forms another alliance and soon a princess known for her beauty is about to arrive, although his heart is still with Lin Caster, the physician who is part of the people separated from the mainstream.

Kel is still doing everything he can to protect Conor and the Crown.  He is working with the criminal underground, as they are placed to root out the conspiracy against Conor.  The woman he loves has been promised to a disgusting lord who is known for his cruelty and desire to humiliate all those around him.

Lin has declared herself the Goddess her people have been searching for, waiting for centuries.  She doesn't believe she is the Goddess, but wants access to books forbidden to her to find a cure for her best friend.  While treating the King, she discovers his secret which also affects Conor.  Will things all work out?

This is the second book in The Chronicles Of Castellane series.  Advertising says book two of two, but it is hard to imagine that the ending of this book is the ending of the series as it ends with much in turmoil and unresolved.  Cassandra Clare is known for her epic fantasies and I've really enjoyed reading this one.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

Dead Lions by Mick Herron

 

In the second novel of the Slough House series, a man on the periphery of the intelligence network has been found dead on a bus.   Was it old age or something else?  He claimed to have knowledge of Russian intelligence but isn't the Cold War over?  

Jackson Lamb isn't sure and decides to investigate.  Soon he is deep in old files and meeting with people he knew years ago in the game.  One of his Slow Horses operatives is killed in what looks like a road accident but was it?  When he finds out that a small village in rural England is full of what could be a sleeping Soviet network, he sends River to investigate.  Has he sent him to his death?

I really enjoy this series.  What is so interesting is the interplay of characters but above all the conclusions that Lamb is so quick to see and others so slow.  Readers of this series will soon have favorites in the group and it's interesting to follow the Slow Horses lives in addition to whatever mystery Lamb has decided needs his attention.  This book is recommended for mystery readers interested in spy novels.

The Details by Ia Genberg

 

The Details is narrated by a woman who is lying in her bed, sick with a fever.  As she lies there, she idly pages through a book and sees the inscription from the woman who gave her the book.  This leads to her remembering her time with the woman who was her first love and then moving on and remembering others who she spent time with and who had an impact on her life.

The first story is of Johanna, her first love.  They parted and Johanna has gone on to become a famous television presenter.  The next story is of Niki, her college roommate and best friend for several years.  Niki is intense and when she is your friend, she is everything.  But Niki cannot sustain relationships and every one she has ends up badly.  When Niki is done with someone, she is done forever.

The next story is that of Alejandro.  The narrator is living with another man when she goes to a club and sees Alejandro on stage, dancing, which is his background.  She is immediately entranced and goes backstage after the band is through.  She and Alejandro talk for hours and soon are involved in an intense affair.  But they part when Alejandro goes on tour and she knows somehow that they will never be together again.

The last story is of Brigitte, who is the narrator's mother.  Brigitte is consumed by a tragedy in her past and spends her life anxious and unable to enjoy life and what it brings her.  The narrator wonders at the anxiety and finds out its source many years later. 

Ia Genberg was a journalist in Sweden before she became an author.  Her first book was released in 2012 and she has written several others.  This novel was shortlisted for the International Booker in 2024 and her other novels have won acclaim as well.  The narrator's look back at her life will encourage the reader to do the same and examine the friendships and loves that have defined their own lives.  What I found interesting was the stories she left out while including these four.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.   

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

 

In this novel set in the 1950's, Frank and April Wheeler are living in a commuter town, a suburbia where children can grow up safely and couples can live their married lives.  Frank works at an office machine company at the age of the beginning of computers for business uses, before the idea of personal computers had taken hold.  He hates his job.  He had thought he was destined for great things after the war and university, where he met April.  She also had academic yearnings and supported Frank as he took a job.  They wanted to travel but April became pregnant so they married instead.

Now they feel like they are in an intellectual wasteland.  They look down on the other couples they socialize with, feeling that they are humdrum and suited for the stultifying life suburbia offers while only the Wheelers realize there is more to life.  After the failure of an attempted community theatre, the couple decides that they will throw over everything and move to Europe where April will take her turn supporting them while Frank has time to decide what he was really meant to do.

Except.  Except that Frank is suddenly offered a promotion within the company.  Except that both of them are having affairs.  And the biggest except, that April has just found out that she is pregnant yet again, the result of the time before reliable birth control.  

I can relate to this novel.  My parents would have been the Wheelers, the same ages and more interested in books and theatre and art than many others in our small town.  But I see the uneasiness of the Wheelers as a lack in their characters.  Not many others in my childhood had houses full of books, or mothers who left in the summers to get a master's degree or go visit museums in the bigger cities.  But we never felt that we were better than those who enjoyed other things nor felt the lack of friends.  I do remember the time when it was difficult to get birth control, when only married women had the chance to get them and they were frowned upon.  This was a debut novel for the author, Richard Yates, and was nominated for a National Book Award.  The writing is easy and immediately paints a picture of the Wheelers.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers and those interested in the culture of the 1950's in America. 

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

 

Wylie Lark is a true crime writer.  She has come to Iowa to write about a famous case.  One night, someone came to a family farm there and killed both the parents.  At first the suspicion fell on the teenage son but he was found dead and hidden on the property.  The only survivor was a young teenage girl who had run and hidden all night in the towering cornfields.

Now Wylie wishes she had finished her book about the case earlier.  There's a blizzard coming down and the house she is renting could easily lose power and heat.   When she goes outside to get more firewood in, she sees something lying in the yard.  When she checks, she is shocked to see a young child around ten.  Where did he come from?  Getting the child into the house, she does her best to warm him up and then goes back out to see if she can discover where he came from.  She finds a wrecked car and a woman.  Once she gets her inside as well, she can see that the mother is injured from the wreck.  Neither of them want to talk but eventually Wylie manages to find out that they are being chased by a man.

Then there's a knock on the door.  Is it the man who the two are fleeing from?  Is it the snowplow driver who said he would come by and check on Wylie?  Someone else from the wreck?

This is my first book by Heather Gudenkauf but it won't be my last.  She has a real ability to racket up the tension and I had to put the book down at times and walk around a bit before going on with it.  Wylie is resourceful but can any woman manage to defeat both a raging man and weather that isolates her and makes everything much more difficult?  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

How To Become The Dark Lord And Die Trying by Django Wexler

 

Davi is tired of her life.  She dies over and over, coming back to live it again.  She has been on the side of the Kingdom but maybe it's time to do something different.  She decides if she can't make it being virtuous, she'll become the opposite.  Why not become the leader of evil, The Dark Lord?

It isn't something that happens overnight.  She would have to be chosen at the Convocation and she isn't sure where that happens or what it takes.  She starts out but there are many instances of dying and starting over.  Eventually, she becomes the leader of a ragtag group that can form the basis of her horde; mostly orcs with some fox-wilders and rock-wilders as well.  

They start off on their journey to the Convocation picking up new horde members along the way.  After running afoul of a kingdom which found them trespassing, Davi and her horde make a hasty escape and climb over the mountains, finally getting to the Conclave.  Davi has three opponents there.  Can she reach her goal?

Django Wexler started his career as a software engineer and that had to help with the intricate plotting and the creation of the magic used.  But what is most noticeable about this book is the sheer fun of it.  Davi is a villain but one with a heart of gold, who insists on finding love along the way.  She is making it up as she goes but has an inborn ability to bond a group and share power that moves the story along.  I can't wait to read the next one in the series and I'm thrilled to have found Wexler as another author whose work I can explore.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.    

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

 

Andrew Less is not having a good year.  His most recent novel has been passed on by his long time publisher.  His boyfriend of nine years is getting married to someone else and even worse, has invited Andrew to come to the wedding.  To cap things off, he's turning fifty in a few years.

But Less has a plan.  He is constantly getting invitations to conferences, writing retreats, places to review for magazine articles and travel with friends.  He looks at his recent ones and decides to accept them all.  That will take him abroad for a couple of months with stops in Mexico, Germany, France, the Arabian desert and Japan.  It should be safe to return by then.

As Less travels, he meets a wide variety of characters.  Some become lovers while others become friends and memorable individuals he'll never forget.  He has adventures wherever he is but his trusty blue suit which is his touchstone takes him through anything.  Whenever he meets an acquaintance he refuses to hear anything about Freddy's wedding and plows on.  He is accused of being a bad gay but also singled out as someone who has the best blind luck of anyone.  

Andrew Sean Greer is an American author whose books have garnered much praise, with this one winning a Pulitzer Prize.  Readers fall in love with Andrew Less as do the people in his life and those he meets.  He stumbles through with exquisite manners and never quite sure what is next but he is endearing and memorable.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction. 

Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo

 

In The Kingdom, Nesbo fans met Carl and Roy Opgard who live in the small town of Os, Norway.  Carl is the local entrepreneur, lately returned from the United States, bringing home a wife and lots of plans for a luxury hotel.  Roy works in the local garage.  The two share a weighted childhood with abuse a common feature until Roy takes matters into his own hands.  Since then, the two have managed to remove any obstacles in their way, making them look like accidents or suicides.

Things have moved on.  Carl and Roy are living together in the family home, their love/hate relationship still intact.  But Roy now owns the garage he used to work in along with some other properties.  Carl, now without the wife, is building the biggest house Os has ever seen and planning an extension to the hotel/spa.  He is back with his high school sweetheart although she is married.  

Roy has a new woman in his life as well.  Natalie is a local Os girl but she was sent away when she hit puberty, the result of Roy's interference in her life.   Everyone knew her father was abusing her every night but only Roy stepped in.  He gave the man a beating to within an inch of his life and insisted that he send Natalie away to grow up in peace with relatives.  Now Natalie is back in town and Roy can't believe that she is attracted to him but she is.

But everything isn't perfect.  There are business problems with people trying to take what the Osgard brothers have built or cheat them.  The local sheriff has been a long time enemy as he suspects that the brothers are behind the death of his father and he won't give up until he has them behind bars.  The government is planning a new road, one that will bypass Os and make the hotel obsolete.  Will the brothers continue to thrive?

Jo Nesbo is known for his mysteries set in his native Norway.  In this novel, Roy is no doubt a horrible person but most of his crimes come from his desire to protect those he cares for.  Even though Carl has cheated him all his life, he still loves him and tries to protect him.  The reader can't help but pull for Roy as he outmaneuvers his enemies.  The plot is intricate and it is a joy to watch it unfold.  For me, Jo Nesbo is an automatic read as his work is complex and satisfying.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.   

Fatal Witness by Robert Bryndza

 

DI Erika Foster is a Polish immigrant who came to England and has worked her way up to DI, heading a team of other police officers.  She has just moved into a new house and too tired to cook, has walked a block or so to get dinner.  As she is returning, she is met with screams.  Rushing to see what is happening, she discovers a woman and a body.  The woman had some to check on her sister, Vicky, as she hadn't come to work that day.  Instead she found the bloody body, stabbed and joints dislocated.

Erika calls in her team and they start to work the case.  The victim lived in a small apartment building.  Living there are two Bulgarian sisters here to train as doctors, a man who travels on business most of the year, an elderly woman, a middle-aged man who is the victim's neighbor and the owner of the building, a woman who has taken the entire top floor as her apartment.  The middle-aged man comes under immediate suspicion as he is carrying a bag which he refuses to let the police inspect.  Before all is done, he ends up jumping out a window while trying to flee and hurting himself.  Erika and her team take him to the station where it comes to light that his brother is high up in the police structure.

Who could have done this crime?  Was it Eddie the next door neighbor?  Her brother-in-law with whom she had a terrible relationship?  Her former boyfriend?  Vicky had been a podcaster and her focus was true crime.  Was this a crime to stop her from investigating a case?  

This is the seventh novel in the Erika Foster series.  I liked Erika who has a can-do attitude and who is frustrated by all the rules and procedures that must be followed.  She is friends with a wide variety of people and during the case, reunites with her first boyfriend from Poland, who is actually delivering her new furniture.  The plot is involved enough to be satisfying.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did an excellent job.  Robert Bryndza is known for his crime novels although he started out as an actor, switching to writing when one of his plays was selected for production.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis

 

Jeff Johnston is a researcher for a novelist who focuses on the Civil War.  He has been to all the battlefields and knows much more about the subject than the average person.  But his author has become fixated on the topic of Lincoln's dreams and it's putting the deadline for his latest novel in jeopardy.  Lincoln dreamed of his death days before his assassination.  He dreamed often of his son who he loved to distraction and who died, Willie.  He dreamed of the war and the battles before they happened.  What do his dreams mean?  Lincoln had acromegaly.  Were his dreams related to this?

The novelist gives a party and invites Jeff's college roommate who works at a dream institute.  While he is talking to the roommate, Jeff talks to the man's girlfriend, Annie.  It turns out that Annie came to the institute because she is having vivid dreams of the Civil War battles.  Instead of helping her, the roommate has brought her to his house and turned her into his girlfriend, obviously a professional error.  Jeff is intrigued by Annie and wants to help her.  

Soon Jeff is taking Annie to various Civil War battlefields and helping her interpret her dreams.  Can he save Annie with whom he has fallen in love?  They soon realize that she is somehow dreaming Lincoln's dreams.  While it is useful for the book, it is also tearing Annie's mind apart.  What can be done?

Connie Willis is well known in the science fiction/fantasy world having won numerous Hugo and Nebula awards and been named a SWFA Grand Master.  Often her books are humorous fantasy and I've read and enjoyed several of those.  This one is quite serious and the reader will learn much about the battles of the Civil War, about Robert E. Lee's life and his horse, Traveller, and about Lincoln's life during the war and leading up to his assassination.  I often see this book in those lists of books you should read and I'm glad to have read it although it is quite a difference from other of her books.  This book is recommended for historical fiction and science fiction readers.  

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

 

At Dellecher Classical Conservatory, the students are expected to devote themselves to their art.  They can focus on either art, music, or theatre.  The theatre syllabus is devoted to Shakespeare and the plays are all his works.  Each year those who don't make the cut are released from the school and by the fourth, final year only seven students remain.  Going through such an intensive program, the seven are each other's best friends, enemies, lovers and every other category.

But there are pairings.  Richard is the school's lead actor, a huge bass voice and imposing physical bearing.  He is in an intense relationship with Meredith, who is the troupe's femme fatale.  Another pairing is best friends James and Oliver.  James is the second lead while Oliver is less well regarded in terms of drama.  Wren is the troupe's ingenue and Richard's cousin.  Phillipa is another female secondary character and also plays male characters as needed.  Alexander is the group's openly gay friend who spends much of his time in a drugged haze.  

As the story begins, we see Oliver being released from prison after ten years.  The rest of the book goes back and forth between his current life and the story of the troupe's senior year when things fell apart and someone died as a result, a death for which Oliver was imprisoned.  We see the group as their dynamic created over years starts to fall apart, as different pairings start to form and students start to think of their adult lives and what they will be.

M.L. Rio was both an actor and a Shakespearean student before she turned to writing.  There is Shakespeare throughout the book, with the plays all focusing on him and the students, devoted to their art, often speaking using his words in everyday life.  The tension builds slowly as relationships strain and break and new ones are formed and as the students react to the changes and the tragedy that will define all their lives.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and mystery.

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

 

Liv Reese shows up home at her apartment building with no memory of the night before.  Had she been drinking that much?  She reaches for her phone but it's not there, nor is her purse.  No keys then.  She buzzes for her roommate to let her into the building.  But it's not her roommate who shows up at the door.  A couple she doesn't know comes to the door.  They don't want to let her in but the man agrees to let her in long enough to borrow his phone.  When she enters what she thought was her apartment, she doesn't recognize anything.  None of her furniture or belongings are there.  She calls her roommate but gets a message that the number is out of service.

Liv leaves after finding a knife in her pocket which she hurls away and heads back to the bar where she had been earlier.  Her phone and purse aren't there but the bartender gets her a taxi and sends her to a hotel.   Liv finds she has quite a lot of money in her pockets.  The next morning she goes to the magazine where she works and where her last memory is of answering her phone.  She finds no one there she knows and people who assume that she is back visiting from London where they believe she has been leaving.

A murder is on the television news and all the newspapers as well as everyone's lips.  A man was killed in an apartment, stabbed.  The words Stay Awake have been written in blood on the window.  Liv looks down and sees the same words written on her hand.  Has she somehow lost two years?  Who is the man and why does she think she is involved?

Megan Goldin started her writing career as a correspondent.  She is now writing psychological thrillers and has had several successful novels.  This one is particularly scary as it is easy to imagine oneself in Liv's shows, unsure what is going on and everything you thought you knew turning out to be wrong.  Liv is determined to find the truth and that is dangerous for her as someone is tracking her every move waiting for a chance to end her forever.  I listened to this novel and had to stop it occasionally as the tension mounted.  This book is recommended for mystery fans.

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

 

Kel's life changes forever when he is plucked from an orphanage at age ten and taken to the Castellane castle to become the body double for Prince Conor Aurelian.  He is also his bodyguard, sworn to give his life to save Conor's.  The boys grow up together, sharing a room, lessons, fighting readiness and playing.  Now that the two are grown, Kel's tasks have changed but his mission remains the same, to do anything to protect Conor.

Lin Caster is a member of a cultural group that is forbidden from leaving their compound after dusk.  They are both valued for their knowledge and hated for their magic.  Lin's grandfather is the King's Counselor.  Lin has fought against tradition her entire life for her desire has always been to become a physician which she has against all obstacles.  She meets Kel when he is injured and later also treats Conor.  There is an attraction between Lin and Conor but nothing can come of it.  Marrying someone from her culture is not something that could ever happen and Conor must marry for political alliance.

Both Kel and Lin become involved with the ruler of the underground in Castellane, the Ragpicker King.  He lures Kel in with news of danger to Conor.  Lin is brought into his orbit when the Ragpicker King agrees to let her use his extensive library and his laboratory, both things forbidden to Lin in her culture.  What they don't know is if the Ragpicker King is for or against the ruling class.

Cassandra Clare is known as a star in the fantasy world.  She has written several very successful fantasy series.  This is her latest series and I fell into it head over heels.   The characters are well drawn with many subplots.  Kel is a compelling character, who made an agreement when he was a child that both expanded his universe and hemmed him in, never to be able to marry or make a life separate from Conor.  Lin is an interesting character although more of a stock one and the attraction between her and Conor is expected and is playing itself out.  The Ragpicker King is fascinating, a menacing figure hidden in the background where he manipulates those around him for his own purchases.  This is the first book in the series and I can't wait to read the next.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

Go As A River by Shelley Read

 

Victoria Nash walks to town with her brother one day when she is seventeen and her life changes forever.  She meets a boy Wilson Moon and is instantly entranced.  Torie has never had a boyfriend or even thought about having one.  She is busy running the house for her father, brother and uncle.  They live on a peach orchard in Colorado and Torie has been the household glue since her mother died.

Wil is a drifter and has ridden in on a train.  He is looking for work but instead found the love of his life.  He is an Indian, taken from his tribe and sent to a government school but when he ran away from there, he hit the rails.  The two start to meet secretly because there is a lot of prejudice against Native Americans in rural Colorado.  Soon they end up in bed and Torie knows this is who she wants to build a life with.

But that isn't to be.  Wil is set upon by vigilantes and killed.  Soon afterward, Torie realizes she is pregnant and runs away into the mountains to the shack where she and Wil were happy.  She lives there by herself until her baby is born.  Heading back, she realizes that her baby is starving and that she can't take care of him.  She leaves him with a family picnicking and returns home.

The years drift by and Torie loses more people.  Her father, brother and uncle are soon gone as is her elderly neighbor who helped her and Wil.  Torie endures, keeping the farm and orchard going and grieving Wil and her baby.  When the government decides to build a dam for water, her farm is one of the ones that will be destroyed.  She moves elsewhere and rebuilds a life.

Shelley Read is a native of Colorado and her love of her state shines through in this novel.  Readers will admire Torie although they will grieve along with her about the hard life she has been handed.  I learned a lot about the state and its beauty.  This book is recommended for readers of women's and literary fiction.

The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden

 

Tom's life has been defined by one thing; his love for Daisy.  He has loved her since he was four years old but finally, in high school he has managed to let her know and to his delight, she feels the same way.  Outside of Daisy, he has one friend, Slug, and a cowed mother and an alcoholic father.  Tom is smart and determined to make his way out of his little town.  

Sydney is living in New York.  She is almost thirty-five and still hasn't found her partner in life.  She thought her last boyfriend was it but they broke up over his workaholic devotion to his life as a policeman.  So Sydney and her friends are on the dating carousel, meeting men and hoping this one will be the one.

But what Sydney finds instead is the worst date ever.  She leaves the restaurant as quickly as she can only to have him follow her and attack her.  She is rescued by a mystery man, who helps her and then disappears without telling her his name.  

But fate is fate.  Sydney runs into her mystery man again and starts dating him.  It's Tom, now a doctor and also unattached, his romance with Daisy long over.   Sydney is soon hopelessly attracted to him but then the doubts start to creep in.  Is he really using a burner phone to communicate with her?  Is he really working all those nights he breaks their plans?  

There is a madman stalking the streets and when Sydney's friend downstairs is the killer's latest victim, that fact hits home.  Who could it be?  Was it one of Bonnie's dates that she gave a key to?  The handyman who has a master key?  It had to be someone who could get in the apartment house which was locked and then into Bonnie's apartment.  Could it be Tom?

Freida McFadden is known for her psychological thrillers.  This one races along at a rapid clip and delivers a shocking ending that I wasn't expecting.  Evil is out there and it only takes one unguarded moment to be a victim.  This book is recommended for thriller fans.