Let’s talk book covers. The old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover” is ridiculous. We all judge a book by its cover, and the publishers know this and spend lots of time and energy designing book covers for just this reason. If book covers didn’t matter, why do they change covers between US and … [Read more]
The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark
This is quite a short novella and therefore there's quite a bit of rushing to get to the plot that there is. But if the worst that I have to complain about is some deus ex machina nuns, I think we're overall pretty fine. Did not realize that there was more fiction in this vein by Clark, I've read … [Read more]
The Murder at World's End by Ross Montgomery
A quick read but at the end of the day never quite felt the sense of "the game is afoot." Montgomery does a fantastic job of fleshing out a very large cast of characters-- I was a bit worried at the outset when they were all being described without names, but as soon as our narrator (Stephen) learns … [Read more]
The Wager; A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
Format in which I consumed this book: audiobook Did I like it/love it/hate it? Liked it What's it about? In the 1740s, a British ship sets sail to try to capture a Spanish galleon filled with treasure. They fail, and become shipwrecked on an island near Argentina and Chile. In the months that … [Read more]
The Magician's Daughter by H. G. Parry
Biddy lives on a small, magically isolated island off the coast of Ireland with her guardian/foster father, Rowan, and his familiar, the rabbit Hutchincroft. No one who doesn't know that it's there can find it. While Biddy has no magic of her own, she has grown up with it all around her. Yet magic … [Read more]
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
I love an unreliable narrator. Whether they are divorced from reality à la Montresor of "The Cask of Amontillado," deceiving themselves as a defense against trauma, like Pi in Life of Pi, or intentionally deceiving the reader, as in many mysteries I won't name to avoid spoilers. . .I just can't get … [Read more]
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
Despair, hope, and the future of our world. Also, what does it mean to be a good parent? Big aspirations for a science fiction novella, but boy are they met. Plot: Elephants are going extinct, yet for some reason, there are still scientists spending their lives studying them. Dr. Damira … [Read more]
