I have a lot to say about this duology, so I'm giving it some space. 

​Spring’s Arcana & The Salt-Black Tree, by Lillith Saint-Crow
As this is a duology that I read back-to-back, the two books get one review because really, the book should have been one long book. The first one I listened to and the second one I read (because the first one stops in the middle of an action seen—who does that?). Overall, I loved the story. It’s similar to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, but in many ways more interesting. The worldbuilding was great, with a hotel for gods and spirits that feels like The Continental from John Wick movies. The characters were interesting and fully developed, but …
 
The writing! I feel like this author heard the adage about not using adverbs and said, “Hold my beer.” There were so many adverbs and adjectives—most of them weird word constructs that had no meaning without context. An example: “Nat slithered off the stool, her boots hitting tiled floor with twin fang-thumps. She backed away, her right hand clapping over her mouth because the urge to hiss-scream boiled in her middle with the vodka...”
 
What are fang-thumps? Don’t even get me started on the analogies. I was really conflicted while reading the books because I couldn’t quite pin down why I wasn’t enjoying the story. Then one paragraph that was so full of ‘wtf’ that I figured it out. It was the overuse of adverbs, overblown adjectives, the hyphenated word concoctions of both, and the ridiculous analogies. Another example: “[Car] peeled off at the interchange, surefooted as a stretch-galloping feline, and before Nat knew it the blue car was slowing, waxed thread slipping through the eye of a needle.”
 
Wwwwhyeeeeeee? Remember how I said these should be one book. It would have been if the author didn’t over pack every sentence with surplus verbiage. Like this one, “Nat accepted one of the glasses, now heavy-full of liquid; condensation was cold on its slick sides.” Or this one, “The thiefways folded around him, and with a sound like the last tubercular cough of a dying bandit married to the feedback-laced scream of a stooping hawk on summer tundra...”
 
This could have been one of my favorite stories if not for the overindulgent writing. What does “the last tubercular cough of a dying bandit” even sound like. It was just too dang much. I felt like I needed to read Hemingway after this duology just to read clear writing again. But if you can get past the writing, the story is really great. 

I read twelve books in August. The reviews for ten of them are below. The other two are getting their own separate review. 

Mister Magic, by Kiersten White
This book was fantastic. I don’t even know where to begin. Mister Magic is an almost mythological kids TV show that abruptly went off the air 30 years ago. The kid stars coming together for what they are told is a reunion podcast. And Val, one of the stars, but who has no memory of the time she spent with Mister Magic, goes along. As she learns about her past, we learn too, building up to a terrific ending. This book has everything—cults, creepy TVs, and so many secrets. The less you know going in, the better.
 
The First Death, by Kendra Elliot
A police procedural set in Oregon. This was a fine story, but pretty run of the mill. Rowan and her brother were kidnapped as children and tortured. Rowan was lucky and escaped, but her brother was never found. Twenty years later, she works on a search and rescue team with her dog and still looks for her brother. When the man who rescued her all those years ago is found murdered, signs begin to point to the people who may have taken her.
 
Convenience Store Woman, by Sayaka Murata
I had seen a lot of great reviews of this book, and I thought it was…OK? It was a good, quick read. The main character, Keiko, is pretty obviously on the Autism spectrum, but without a diagnosis. She is happy working as a convenience store clerk, even though everyone else thinks it’s weird. To fit in, she tries to pretend to want more than she does even taking on a terrible guy as a boyfriend. Fortunately, she ultimately remains true to herself.
 
Wild Spaces, by S.L. Coney
This novella is a wild ride that starts by describing an idyllic boyhood on the shores of South Carolina and ending in monstrous horror. I listened to it, the reading very good, and the juxtaposition of the narrator’s down-home, warm voice with the rising tension made for a great listening experience. I recommend this book, but only if you are into creepypasta horror.
 
The Savior’s Book Café in Another World, vols 1-3, by Kyouka Izumi, Oumiya
I was really excited about this manga about a bookworm/baker who is sent to another world to be a powerful magic-wielder, but who prefers just to run a small book café. The first two volumes are fun and sweet—emphasizing the romance over the action. They cover one story arc. The third volume was kind of meh, so I won’t be continuing with this series. The story is based on novels by Kyouki Izumi and I think I would rather read those, but I don’t think any have been translated to English.
 
Chaos Terminal, by Mur Lafferty
I couldn’t wait for this follow-up to last year’s Station Eternity, literally. This book doesn’t come out until November, so I read a digital arc (which I prefer not to do). It was a blast. Not quite as fun as the first book, as so many of the mysteries surrounding Mallory had been explained. But wherever Mallory goes, murder is sure to meet her there, only this time she doesn’t have the hive mind to help her solve it. The world Lafferty builds is fun and exciting and full of aliens who are their own type of special. Love this series and look forward to more.
 
The Dollhouse Murders, by Betty Ren Wright
This is an old middle grade book from the 1980s that came across my radar. This is not a long book, but there is so much story packed into it. Amy is spending time with her aunt in the old home of her great-grandparents, helping to clear out the house to sell it. Amy finds a pristine dollhouse in the attic that is an exact replica of the house, complete with figures that looked like the inhabitants from thirty years before. Amy is enchanted, but finds there are family secrets that the dolls are reenacting on their own. Wonderfully sad and scary. Full of detailed family relationships. Amy growing from petulant to confident. It is really good.
 
Plague-Busters! Medicine's Battles with History's Deadliest Diseases, by Lindsey Fitzharris and Adrian Teal
Children’s nonfiction, this was an entertaining read about the diseases that have caused the most human deaths. Each disease, including black death, rabies, smallpox and others, gets its own chapter filled with a history of the disease and how it was wiped out. Humorously illustrated, the book brings these scary diseases down to the science behind them, making them not quite so scary.
 
The Undetectables, by Courtney Smyth
A delightful fantasy mystery where a town of witches is being stalked by a ritual murderer and a group of young women make their tweenage dreams a reality by becoming investigators. Also, their sidekick is a ghost of a fussy man who died wearing cat ears with whiskers drawn on his face. I enjoyed the heck out of this book. Plus it has plenty of queer, fat, and disability rep. I think it might become a series, and, if so, I will read more.
 
Kin: Rooted in Hope, by Carole Boston Weatherford
A middle grade novel in verse. Although, novel is not really the best description of it. It is interconnected poems that describe the people—both white and black enslaved—who lived on a historic plantation in Maryland. The author can trace her ancestors to the plantation through its intact records from the 1600s. Sometimes a poem will be from the POV of a servant, a master, a wife, a child, a laborer, the house itself, an object in the house, or even the river that runs alongside it. These all come together to make a full picture of of slavery and the white owners and firmly presses into place in the reality of that history. Interspersed are poems from the author’s POV on her family history and it is illustrated with line-cut drawings by the author’s son. All in all a very moving book that is both interesting and arresting. 

July was a busy month—especially at the beginning—so I read/listened in short bursts instead of marathon reads. I read/listened to three audio books, several novellas and graphic novels, and a couple of rereads. Plus a couple of new titles that I had been looking forward to. Eleven altogether.
 
Witch King, by Martha Wells
OK, fine, I read this one in June, but I had started the audio in May, so I decided to finish it. Great upon a second read/listen.
 
At the Edge of the Woods, by Kathryn Bromwich
Second audio of the month. This is an atmospheric novella about a woman running from a dangerous past who takes up residence in a remote village in the Italian Alps in a decrepit cabin. She creates a peaceful life there for awhile, even though there are some uncanny happenings and the villagers treat her like a stranger. While short on plot, it has loads of moody feelings. Creepy short read, beautifully written.
 
The Iron Princess, by Barbara Hambly
New fantasy world from a beloved (by me) author. I’ve said before that nobody does world-building like Martha Wells, but I have to admit that Barbara Hambly also does it well and has done it for longer. While this snuggly fits into the sword and sorcery genre, Hambly’s political/religious machinations make it worthwhile. A sorcerer trapped in alternate world for 75 years is rescued by Clea and her friends in order to help her stop the Crystal Mages from overpowering her world. There is a lot, lot more to it than that, but to really explain it would take paragraphs. Suffice it to say, this was a fun book, well thought out and executed.
 
The Pirate and the Porcelain Girl, by Emily Riesbeck and N.J. Barna
Guys! This is such a great, surprising book. Outcast pirates, a girl whose wish went really wrong, religious zealots, and lost gods—this book takes on so much, but does it deftly. The cast of characters is absolutely delightful (so much that I hope there are more books in this world) and the action-packed story will sweep you off your feet. Highly recommend.
 
The Lady and the Octopus: How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums and Revolutionized Marine Biology, by Danna Staaf
While this book is written for kids, it is the only biography of the female natural scientist who invented the aquarium. “What,” you say. Exactly. Jeanne VP was a fascinating woman who took her interest in the natural world to new and exciting places. Born to a poor family in France, she rose to fame for creating the wedding dress for a princess, married a rich Irish merchant and moved to Sicily where she spent twenty years studying the environment around her—most importantly the waters of the Strait of Messina. Nearly forgotten, her incredible life is finally getting the attention it deserves.
 
Capture the Sun, by Jessie Mihalik
Last in Mihalik’s Starlight’s Shadow series and I was kind of ready for it to be done. This was not nearly as fun as the Consortium Rebellion series (which I’ve reread a couple of times). The world and story felt too contemporary to be the far future and the alien Valova were just humans with weird eyes and mental powers. Not to mention that the characters from the two cultures all hook up—it’s like everyone has to have a romantic partner by the end. Kind of weird. This book follows Lexi and Nilo has they save their friends from Starlight’s Shadow (ship) who are being held in a maximum-security detention center in enemy territory. Action is exciting, but I found myself just trying to get through this book.
 
Charlotte Illes Is Not a Detective, by Katie Siegel
A funky little mystery that I listened to. Charlotte “Lotty” Illes was once a famous child detective, but now she is 25 with no job, no prospects, a dismal dating life, and living with her mom. She hasn’t worked a case in ten years and is tired of her childhood fame following her. She reluctantly goes to see her brother when his girlfriend begins getting threatening notes, but stumbles onto a bigger mystery involving murder and kidnapping that takes her to NYC to investigate. Funny and silly and sometimes clever, this book is mostly about being stuck in your twenties as you try to get your life started.
 
Enola Holmes: Mycroft’s Dangerous Game, by Nancy Springer
I’m always up for new Enola Holmes stories and this one is based on a short written by her original creator and adapted to comics by an all female team. This story is more of a branch off the timeline of the Netflix series. As a one-off though, it was still super fun. Plus, graphic novel!
 
Bright Dead Things, by Ada Limón
Limón was a poet laureate of the US. I hadn’t read any of her other work. It was a rather long collection and a lot of it did not resonate with me. There were a couple of poems that I really like, but more often I liked just a line or two rather that whole poems. This collection starts with setting up house in Kentucky with her partner, addresses early family traumas and her youthful reactions, and how those events still cycle through her life. Some lines that I really liked:
 
“Isn’t it funny? How the cold numbs everything     but grief.
If we could light up the room with pain,
                                                We’d be such a     glorious fire.”
 
“Before the road between us there was the road beneath us, and I was just big enough not to let go”
 
Into the Riverlands, by Nghi Vo
Third book in The Singing Hills Cycle of novellas. In this one, our narrator Chih wanders into a bar fight and winds up traveling with a group of strangers into the dangerous River Lands where they experience history in the making first-hand. Reading Vo’s work becomes more pleasurable the more I read.
 
Frederica, by Georgette Heyer
Comfort reread, of course. 

Witch King, by Martha Wells
When demon in human form, Kai, wakes from a year-long imprisonment, he and his companions go in search of whomever had plotted against him. Treachery is everywhere and they don’t know who to trust. Their search begins to echo the first battle won against the all-powerful Heirarchs—colonizing mages defeated sixty years before. Told in both the past and present, Kai is a compelling figure at once both unsure of himself and wildly talented. This was a little more high-fantasy than I’ve been into lately, but Martha Wells worldbuilding is on-point here. Full of rich history and descriptions, it’s very immersive.
 
System Collapse, by Martha Wells
I really didn’t mean to read to by the same author in a row. Witch King came out at the end of May and then I got access to an early digital reading copy of the next installment of Murderbot Diaries. … And I read it twice. It was a balm for my stressed-out soul at the beginning of June. It is terrific. Can’t wait for more.
 
Wake the Bones, by Elizabeth Kilcoyne
A young adult book and a listen. I thought this book was going to be more horror than it was. I liked it enough, but the really interesting part only lasted about two pages. Laurel recently dropped out of college returning to her rural Kentucky farm. The land calls to her and she discovers she might have some magic related to it. When her long-dead mother begins to return to her, she realizes the demon her mother neutralized with her death is coming back to take Laurel instead. Sounds scary, right? Not so much, it really concentrated on the dead-end, rural town that Laurel and her three friends want to leave but see no options anywhere else.
 
Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
I first read this when I was 9-ish and cried my eyes out. I remember loving it, but it being so so sad. Someone left a copy in my Little Free Library, so I thought I would see how 30-years had changed things. Not so much. Cried.My.Eyes.Out. Cried sooooo hard. And still, it is an absolutely wonderful story. Spare and simple, but fully realizing the joy of a best friend.
 
The World of Pondside, by Mary Helen Stefaniak
Pondside is a nursing home mostly populated by the elderly. Once exception is Robert Kallman, a younger man with advanced ALS. A software engineer, he creates an immersive video game that many of the residents use to reconnect with their younger, more mobile, selves. When Robert is found drowned in the namesake Pond, his close friend and collaborator is devastated. Foster is a young man with no family or friends who works as a kitchen aid at the nursing home. After Robert’s death, the game goes dark and Foster has to navigate the police, his demanding boss, his coworkers, and the Pondside residents to keep Robert’s dying wish. This is an odd book, but overall really good—different in the best way. It took awhile to get into as there are multiple narrators whose stories don’t coalesce until more than two-thirds of the way through. From there the story really takes off.
 
Game On: Shrinkle, by Emily Snape
This is the first in a new middle grade series published by the company I work for. It’s about two brothers who fight all the time who get sucked into a phone app game that shrinks them to 3 inches tall. They have to answer riddles the game gives them within an hour in order to return to normal all while navigating an apartment that is way too big and a baby sister who is now a giant. This is a really fun book. A ton of body humor, like gross, gross body humor—so perfect for the 8 to 11 year-old readers. Interesting concept and well-executed.
 
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
So, another book I read when I was 10-ish. I know remember why it has stood the test of time. Evocative and exciting, Jim Hawkins is the plucky hero that I think everyone wishes they were. Long John Silver is an especially great character—a sympathetic villain who always squeaks out of trouble. This is a fantastic read for kids and adults.
 
Witches of Lychford, by Paul Cornell
A supermarket is trying to take over a small village—a subject which has split the town in two. Elderly witch, and local crank, Judith knows that the supermarket is trying to destroy the border between two worlds. She is aided in her fight by two young women who have their own reasons for fighting back. This is a quick novella and delightful as much as it is menacing. And I love Judith. I want to be a cranky old witch one day.
 
Supper Club, by Jackie Morrow
Nora, Lili, and Iris are seniors prepping for college. When they find out they don’t have classes together and their individual hobbies will not give them any time together, they start a Friday night Supper Club. Supper Club becomes their one solid thing to hold on to as the shifting carpet of their lives threatens to separate them. This is a graphic novel with so much heart. Great artwork, wonderful characters, and even a few of the recipes that the girls share.
 
Against Technoableism, by Ashley Shew
My one nonfiction of the month and it was a doozy. In recent years, I have been learning more and more about disability justice and this book brought so much great information together. Shew is a professor of disability studies and technology ethics—and is also a cancer survivor amputee. She knows what she’s talking about. Ostensibly, this book is about how ableds think that technology will solve all disability “problems.” However, it goes farther than that, taking on a broader discussion of disability rights and activism. Shew is an engaging writer, which makes this short book an incredible introduction to these topics. This is one that every able-bodied person should read and a book that will help disabled people fell seen. 

I first learned to crochet when I was five or six. I was taught by my grandma who almost only made doilies, so that's what I learned to make. Now I have come full-circle and have done a few. I will be making more!