A Stack of Eight

As the holidays approach and I get closer to having houseguests, I keep looking at all of the things that need to be tidied up and my stack of unreviewed books taunts me from the coffee table. Five of these are review copies too (as I've been trying to pare down yet another stack in another room) so I NEED to tell you about them. I don't know if I'll get to full reviews but I want to at least give these all a mention so here goes --

Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore
I actually finished this story (of a man nearing the end of his reincarnation limit) at the beginning of November but could never figure out just what to say about it. There were things I liked about it and a couple of things that I didn't but it had me thinking for weeks about reincarnation and death and many other things. My spreadsheet note says "all over the place but mostly in a good way".

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
This was more of a character development book than a plot book and I enjoyed meandering through it. There was also a feeling of sadness about the whole story. The main character was incredibly damaged and that followed her everywhere.

Supernova by C.A. Higgins
This is the second in a trilogy and it was ridiculously dark and, quite honestly, painful to read but it inspired a lot of thought about rebels and revolutions and the cost of bringing down an empire. I definitely want to finish the trilogy but I'll need a bit of a break before I dive back into the darkness.

Whistling in the Dark by Shirley Hughes
I adored this story of children in Liverpool during the Blitz. Hughes was a young woman during WWII and her experiences definitely come through and give this story depth and authenticity.

Yesternight by Cat Winters
This one was weird. It was atmospheric and bizarre and I'm not sure I liked the ending.

Good Evening, Mrs. Craven by Mollie Panter-Downes
These WWII homefront pieces that were originally published in The New Yorker were almost all from points of view that I had never read/heard before. Some of them were rather depressing, others inspiring. Again, it was educational and entertaining to read a different point of view that usual.

Ocean of Secrets, Vol. 1 by Sophie-chan
This is Sophie-chan's first manga and she says she has been working on the story for years. It is a good twist on the secret-princess story. The second volume comes out in a couple of months and I think this will be a fun one to follow.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
And this one was a bit hard to get into for some reason. By the end I enjoyed it but I think that there are other better books in the Death series. However, there were also a few things in it that I loved -- like the scenes with the wizards. They were especially funny this time.

Well, now I get to put all of these books away and make room for presents. Yay! If there's one you want to know more about, let me know in the comments and I'll write a real post in the new year.

Tidying up,
K

New Release: Meddling Kids

I rarely preorder new books anymore but, because this was supposedly based on Mystery Inc./Scooby-Doo and because I *loved* Edgar Cantero's first novel, The Supernatural Enhancements, I knew that Meddling Kids was a no-risk buy and I also didn't want to wait to read it. Based on the descriptions (a mix of Scooby-Doo and The Goonies was the last one I saw), I was expecting a light-hearted, funny pastiche. But this is an actual horror book with damaged characters. The young detective friends have grown up, had various problems based on what they experienced in their last case, and have reunited in Oregon to face those demons -- some of them literal. It's not all bleak though -- there's friendship, unrequited love, and yes, a dog.

I was just reading my post about The Supernatural Enhancements and I said that I had written "holy crap" in a tweet and that the author asked if it was good crap or bad. This time I tweeted right at him -- "Wow, @punkahoy. Just wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. #readthisbook". And yes, they were good wows. I had so much fun reading this story, so many things happened that I never saw coming. The story had nods to those previously mentioned shows and found its creatures in Lovecraftian lore, but it was purposeful, never heavy-handed, and all arranged in an exciting, original way. Also, check out the awesome neon cover! This was a great summer read but would also be perfect during the upcoming RIP season. (Not that I'm already thinking about reading stacks for that because that would be crazy ... er ...)

Unearthing a gem,

K

A Visit (or Two) to Dickens Junction

Recently I was offered a book for review that turned out to be the second in a series and was also based on a book I hadn't read yet but wanted to. So thus began my reading project of the last month or so.

First up was, logically, the first Dickens Junction Mystery, The Christmas Carol Murders by Christopher Lord. I was excited about reading this one. It promised many elements that I enjoy -- a cozy mystery, a beautiful Oregon setting and a tie-in to a well-known story from one of my favorite authors.

Dickens Junction is a fictional town just outside of beautiful Astoria, on the northern coast of Oregon. It was founded by the main character's uncle, Ebenezer Dickens, as a place to celebrate the life and philosophies of his ancestor, Charles Dickens. Simon Alastair was adopted by his uncle after he lost his parents and he grew up in this small community. But now he's a wealthy heir and benefactor to the town -- and he also runs the town's bookstore, Pip's Pages. But one day Mervyn Roark, an acquisitions man for a mysterious company named Marley Enterprises, comes to town and buys an Ayn Rand book from the store, and thus begins a battle between the benevolent philosophies of Dickens and the more uncharitable ones of Rand.

Though this book would be filed as a cozy mystery, it really is a tale of tolerance and friendship, from the fledgling romance of the main character (who happens to be gay) to the support each community member offers up when the big bad corporation comes to town. Whether this is more of a commentary on small towns or on the philosophies of Dickens, I'm not entirely sure, but I did enjoy this aspect of the book. It made me immediately want to travel south and find this town. As for the murders, the victims were predictable but the murderer was not. And the romance was sweet and not one I would normally encounter in much of my reading so I enjoyed the diversion. My only complaint about the book is that there was just a bit too much description of what each character was wearing in every scene, down to brand names and fabrics. I didn't feel these descriptions added anything to the story and could have easily been edited out.

The newly-released second book in the series, The Edwin Drood Murders, posed a bit of a problem for me. I hadn't yet read Charles Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood though it had been on my TBR for a while. Now, these mysteries still work even if you just have a passing knowledge of The Inimitable Boz (Dickens) and his novels but I saw this as a chance to clear another book off my TBR so I read the Dickens first. I'm going to save my discussion of that book for my next post but I will say that it did enhance my reading of this book.

It is a few months after the events of the first book and the United States Chapter (Western Sector) International Society of Droodists is hosting a conference in Astoria. These are scholars and fans of Dickens' last and only half-finished novel. There are a couple of late registrants mixed in with the regular (and still highly irregular) attendees and it isn't long before suspicions develop after some significant thefts and, ultimately, murder.

This was a good follow-up to the first novel. Simon and his boyfriend Zach make sense as a detecting team, one as a trusted local and the other as a resourceful journalist. The Dickens plot is again somewhat peripheral to the mystery but provides an interesting framework for suspicion. There isn't as much of a moral message in this story as there was in the first one but I think it was actually a stronger mystery.

I thought I had seen something about the next book in the series but now I can't find anything about it so I'll have to wait a while longer to see what's next for Simon and the Junxonians. Fingers crossed for Bleak House!

Enjoying a little homage with my murders,
K