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Posts by Jane J
With the announcement of NPR's Books We Love I realized it's that time of year. The lists of best books are pouring in and I know that not only are we interested in them as readers ourselves, they also give us great ideas for books to gift to the other readers in our lives. So for those of you searching for your next read or even more desperately searching for that perfect gift, here is a by-no-means-comprehensive best lists to give you a start.
From what I hear from other readers I'm not alone in, more often then I'd like, struggling with my ability to really sink into a book. I don't know if the attention deficit comes from work, too many devices, or the general stressiness of life, but often I find that I have to work to stick to a book, even if I was sure I'd love it. But one genre lately has really been working for me and that is fantasy fiction. Something about entering a completely different world has just been easier.
The Lakeview Mystery Book Group had been meeting in person over the last few months but decided to go back to meeting on Zoom now that the nights are longer and are getting colder. Last week was our return to Zoom and given how the online platform can change the shape of meetings, I was wondering if our talk would be as comfortable and free-wheeling as it had been for our in-person meetings. The answer? It certainly was a relaxed, energetic discussion. But was that the group or the book?
There's a trope in the romance genre that almost always entertains me. And there is an author who does likewise. So you can imagine my happiness when I realized that After Dark with the Duke by Julie Anne Long has both.
I've been waiting to tell you about John Scalzi's forthcoming title for a while now as it was just the antidote I needed for a reading slump. At the time most things I'd been reading were eliciting a tepid, 'ah it was fine' response. And then came the Kaiju. Not only were they a saving grace for me, but based on the author note included in the book, were one for Scalzi as well. He'd been struggling with another book as the pandemic worsened and just couldn't make progress when the idea for this story popped into his head.
There are some books that make me feel like I'm smiling from the first page to the last. I finish the book and immediately want to tell everyone about the delight I had in reading it (I think I've already mentioned it to multiple co-workers). Such was the case with A Marvellous Light, a debut queer fantasy novel full of "magic, contracts, and conspiracies".
In their summer reading poll this year NPR decided to focus on the past decade of science fiction and fantasy writing. They first elicited votes from readers and then had a panel of expert judges curate the final list of 50 titles. The result is about as good as it gets if you're looking for "recommended" reads in these genres.
In her latest standalone thriller Stevens uses the true story of murders of indigenous women along Highway 16 (aka the Highway of Tears) in British Columbia as a jumping off point. At the heart of this novel are two young women whose lives entwine and overlap within a dark and violent set of events in the small town of Cold Creek, BC. Hailey McBride is seventeen years old and has just lost her only remaining parent, her dad.
The other night I was reading on my tablet and realized it needed charging. But I still wanted to be reading. So I picked Linesman from my pile of library books and thought 'I'll just read it for a while and then head to bed'. Best laid plans. A few hours later (at 4:30 in the morning!) I turned the last page and immediately went to the LINKcat app on my phone to put book two in the series (Alliance) on hold. I love when that happens with a book, especially one I had no expectations of going in.
Charlotte Gorman and her twin Ginny could not be more different. Where Charlotte favors Harry Potter t-shirts and jeans, Ginny wouldn't be caught out in public (or on her Instagram feed) in anything less then full makeup and fashion-forward outfits. And where Charlotte is an elementary school librarian, Ginny is a beauty pageant professional. And it's at Ginny's latest pageant, Miss American Treasure, where their two disparate lives collide.