I made up for my slow September and October with 14+ books in November. Part of that is that I listened for four audio books. I ran out of episodes on my favorite podcasts, so wound up listening to more books.
Dreambound, by Dan Frey
This one had an interesting structure. It was compiled of journal entries, emails, transcripts, and book excerpts to tell the story of Byron Kidd, a journalist, as he searches for his missing daughter whom he believes has been targeted by a kidnapper preying on fans of the mega-popular Fairy Tale series. What he finds is more magical than real and as he learns more and more, he has to abandon his journalistic cynicism and learn to believe. Overall, I liked it. I didn’t love it. The structure could be jarring, and even annoying in some places. It was also a love letter to Los Angeles, which I really enjoyed.
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide, by Rupert Holmes
A really fun, and funny, mystery…maybe? It is set up like a murder mystery, as we don’t find out the full story of the three main characters until closer to the end and they all murder (technically) someone. Our three main characters are going to school at The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts…of murdering people who deserve it. It’s very clever, skillfully written, and overall very entertaining. The audio has a narrator, but Neil Patrick Harris voices the personal journal of one of the main characters. Delightful.
Enola Holmes & the Mark of the Mongoose, by Nancy Springer
An American publisher is kidnapped, his sister and his best friend, Rudyard Kipling, are worried sick, so Enola steps in to help even though she isn’t technically hired to. Sherlock is. Taking different tacks to work the case, both come up with important clues on their own, but have to work together to find the victim before it’s too late. These newer books are featuring more Sherlock and it’s fun, but I do like it when Enola works things out on her own. Always great to have a new book in the series.
The Uranians: Stories, by Theodore McCombs
This was an entry for the award panel I was on. Actually, it’s a finalist. However, it wasn’t my choice. Of the four short stories and one novella, I only really enjoyed one story, “Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women.” The novella, “Uranians,” was interesting and great sci-fi storytelling but overall wasn’t my thing. This author writes speculative fiction in a very literary style, which can be great or not.
The Printed Letter Bookshop, by Katherine Reay
Madeline inherits a bookshop in a small Illinois town just as her professional life implodes. But the bookshop is in dire straights and it will take all her effort to get it ready to sell. Clare and Janet, the bookshop employees, love the store as it gave them second chances when they really needed them. Over the course of the winter the three become good friends, even as tragedy strikes and all their hard work seems to have been for nothing. A nice frothy, slice of life story with a bookstore at its center about women who need to figure out what they really want in life.
Everyone on this Train is a Suspect, by Benjamin Stevenson
This mystery was an absolute delight. I listened to it and flew through, it was so good. And, it turns out it was the second book in the series and I got to enjoy it even without reading the first. (Which I have now listened to and also loved.) Ernest Cunningham, writer of how-to write mystery books, is on a super special writer’s society train ride when he is, again, beset by murder. Using the tactics he’s learned from the writers during the golden age of mystery, he is the only one who can solve it! This tongue-in-cheek, well-crafted, and hilarious mystery is one of my favorites of the year.
City of Bones, by Martha Wells
One of Wells earlier books that has been updated and reissued. It was a good story and was fun to read now to see how her writing has evolved over thirty years. It also makes me think that she was a fan of 1980s Barbara Hambly as there were many times I felt I was reading a Barbara Hambly book. A one-off world for Wells, but the world is so real and lived in. Khat is from a species developed from humans to survive the Great Waste. In Charisat, he is despised as “other” while working as an artifact finder and dealer. When he is hired to be a guide in the Waste to a rich collector, he is drawn into a plot that could destroy the rest of the world.
The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe, volume 1
Manga series. Kaori has been raised in the spirit world by a demon bookshop owner. She comes and goes between the real world and the spirit world. Then an injured young man, an exorcist, shows up in the spirit world on a quest to find a spirit. This series is based on a Japanese “light novel” series. There isn’t much substance to the story and it moves slow. I’m coming to the conclusion that manga based on light novels are not really my thing. But it had bookstore in the title, so I had to read it
Dreambound, by Dan Frey
This one had an interesting structure. It was compiled of journal entries, emails, transcripts, and book excerpts to tell the story of Byron Kidd, a journalist, as he searches for his missing daughter whom he believes has been targeted by a kidnapper preying on fans of the mega-popular Fairy Tale series. What he finds is more magical than real and as he learns more and more, he has to abandon his journalistic cynicism and learn to believe. Overall, I liked it. I didn’t love it. The structure could be jarring, and even annoying in some places. It was also a love letter to Los Angeles, which I really enjoyed.
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide, by Rupert Holmes
A really fun, and funny, mystery…maybe? It is set up like a murder mystery, as we don’t find out the full story of the three main characters until closer to the end and they all murder (technically) someone. Our three main characters are going to school at The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts…of murdering people who deserve it. It’s very clever, skillfully written, and overall very entertaining. The audio has a narrator, but Neil Patrick Harris voices the personal journal of one of the main characters. Delightful.
Enola Holmes & the Mark of the Mongoose, by Nancy Springer
An American publisher is kidnapped, his sister and his best friend, Rudyard Kipling, are worried sick, so Enola steps in to help even though she isn’t technically hired to. Sherlock is. Taking different tacks to work the case, both come up with important clues on their own, but have to work together to find the victim before it’s too late. These newer books are featuring more Sherlock and it’s fun, but I do like it when Enola works things out on her own. Always great to have a new book in the series.
The Uranians: Stories, by Theodore McCombs
This was an entry for the award panel I was on. Actually, it’s a finalist. However, it wasn’t my choice. Of the four short stories and one novella, I only really enjoyed one story, “Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women.” The novella, “Uranians,” was interesting and great sci-fi storytelling but overall wasn’t my thing. This author writes speculative fiction in a very literary style, which can be great or not.
The Printed Letter Bookshop, by Katherine Reay
Madeline inherits a bookshop in a small Illinois town just as her professional life implodes. But the bookshop is in dire straights and it will take all her effort to get it ready to sell. Clare and Janet, the bookshop employees, love the store as it gave them second chances when they really needed them. Over the course of the winter the three become good friends, even as tragedy strikes and all their hard work seems to have been for nothing. A nice frothy, slice of life story with a bookstore at its center about women who need to figure out what they really want in life.
Everyone on this Train is a Suspect, by Benjamin Stevenson
This mystery was an absolute delight. I listened to it and flew through, it was so good. And, it turns out it was the second book in the series and I got to enjoy it even without reading the first. (Which I have now listened to and also loved.) Ernest Cunningham, writer of how-to write mystery books, is on a super special writer’s society train ride when he is, again, beset by murder. Using the tactics he’s learned from the writers during the golden age of mystery, he is the only one who can solve it! This tongue-in-cheek, well-crafted, and hilarious mystery is one of my favorites of the year.
City of Bones, by Martha Wells
One of Wells earlier books that has been updated and reissued. It was a good story and was fun to read now to see how her writing has evolved over thirty years. It also makes me think that she was a fan of 1980s Barbara Hambly as there were many times I felt I was reading a Barbara Hambly book. A one-off world for Wells, but the world is so real and lived in. Khat is from a species developed from humans to survive the Great Waste. In Charisat, he is despised as “other” while working as an artifact finder and dealer. When he is hired to be a guide in the Waste to a rich collector, he is drawn into a plot that could destroy the rest of the world.
The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe, volume 1
Manga series. Kaori has been raised in the spirit world by a demon bookshop owner. She comes and goes between the real world and the spirit world. Then an injured young man, an exorcist, shows up in the spirit world on a quest to find a spirit. This series is based on a Japanese “light novel” series. There isn’t much substance to the story and it moves slow. I’m coming to the conclusion that manga based on light novels are not really my thing. But it had bookstore in the title, so I had to read it
