August List

 July got away from me. It went by fast too. We spent a big chunk of the month doing a massive book sort and cull. We off-loaded around 500 books so far and still are tight on shelf space. We got through all of the fiction at least and have started work on the nonfiction. I also started a new running program and managed to get a bad case of poison ivy (again). 

Busy month, but I'm looking forward to August.

August List

1. The Wrath & the Dawn Series by Renee Ahdieh
1. The Wrath & the Dawn
2. The Rose & the Dagger
2.  The Most by Jessica Anthony (Library)
3. *The Last Windwitch by Jennifer Adam (Library CC38)
4. *A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (NF - CC82)
5. *Bears Discover Fire by Terry Bisson (CC-97)
6. *In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (NF - CC 5)
7. *The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan (TBR - Library CC38)
8. Science Experiments You Can Eat by Vicki Cobb
9. The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
1. Leviathan Wakes (Finished 1/9/2025)
2. Caliban's War (Finished 1/25/2025)
3. Abaddon's Gate (Finished 3/31/2025)
4. Cibola Burn (Finished 6/28/2025)
5. *Nemesis Games (CC-78)
6. Babylon's Ashes
7. Tiamat's Wrath
8. Persepolis Rising
9. Leviathan Falls
10. Atlas of AI by Kate Crawford (NF)
11. The Faebound Trilogy by Saara El-Arifi
1. Faebound (Library)
2. Cursebound (Library)
12. *I Am Not Okay With This by Charles Forsman (CC 42)
13. *Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez (TBR - Library CC-9)
14. Mary Series by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
1. My Contrary Mary
2. My Imaginary Mary
3. My Salty Mary
15. *The Girl From Everywhere Heidi Heilig (CC 29)
16. J.W. Wells & Co. Series by Tom Holt
1. The Portable Door
2. In Your Dreams
3. Earth, Air, Fire and Custard
4. You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps
5. The Better Mousetrap
6. May Contain Traces of Magic
7. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages
8. The Eight Reindeer of the Apocalypse
17. Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff (Library)
18. *The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam (CC 45)
19. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
20. *At the Fount of Creation by Tobi Obundiran (Library CC-50)
21. She Who Knows Series by Nnedi Okorafor
1. She Who Knows (Library CC 69)
2. One Way Witch
22. Green Teeth by Molly O'Neill (Library)
23. Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid (Library)
24. The Writing Rope by Joan Sedita (NF)
25. All Better Now by Neal Shusterman (Library)
26. *White Teeth by Zadie Smith (CC 13)
27. Dear Manny by Nic Stone (Library)
28. *Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Library CC-78)
29. The Incandescent by Emily Tesh (Library)
30. Cook as You Are by Ruby Tandoh

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

  (The current list) 

I am quickly becoming a fan of T. Kingfisher. While most of her books have some sort of fantasy element, her books fun the gambit from high fantasy to magical realism. This short novel is a delightful modern attempt at a Southern Gothic.

Sam is an archeoentomologist whose dig was shut down when they found human remains. Sam studies bugs, so definitely not her jam. So while she waits for the dig to reopen, she decides to visit her mother in North Carolina. Partly because she misses her mom, partly because her apartment is already subletted out, and partly because her brother thinks something isn't quite right with mom. 

From the minute Sam arrives it is clear that things have changed. There's a vulture watching the house from its perch on the mail box. Mom has repainted all the walls to match Sam's grandmother's taste. Mom seems unusually nervous. She's not even swearing.  However it's easy to ignore such minor, nebulous things and focus on box wine and murder mystery shows. 

What's harder to ignore are the strange things happening to Sam while she's in the house. Sam needs to find the truth but its like the house itself is fighting her.

It's not a perfect book, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I only wish that it had been a little longer. 

Morning Star by Pierce Brown

 (The current list) 

Finished April 17, so it's been a minute and the details are fuzzy at this point. 

As a reminder, Darrow was born a Red in a sci-fi world with a strict class based society. Reds are at the bottom of the heap; Golds are at the top. So, in book 1, Red Rising, Darrow gets a genetic make-over and is turned into a Gold by a rebel group. The idea is that he work his way to the top of Gold society and then use his influence to dismantle it. It was always going to come apart. Eventually someone was going to figure out that Darrow was not who he said he was and that's the main thrust of Morning Star.

It wasn't a bad book. In many ways, it was an improvement over the first two. However, I just got so tired of watching Darrow make choices that were predictably bad and horrible consequences always followed. Brown built this expectation that horrible things were going to happen to all my favorite characters and Darrow and it got a little tedious. Strangely, I get why my students are so fond of the books. For me though, I think I'm putting the series down. 

I hope the vague whispers of a show pan out. It could make for some really good TV. 

July List

June was a phenomenal month for reading. I managed 18 books over the month which is a lot. I do love the summer. I don't realistically think that I can do it again in July but I'm sure going to try.  I also discovered the Centennial Challenged for the Dekalb Library System which is celebrating a 100 years of service to the community. So, the CC numbers on some of these are books that meet some category in the challenge. You can mostly ignore them but if you are interested in the challenge you can find it here. 

I'm really having a hard time keeping up with the reviews. There's no real reason that should be true; I have plenty of time right now. I'll keep working on it.

July List

1. The Most by Jessica Anthony (Library)
2. *The Last Windwitch by Jennifer Adam (Library CC38)
3. *A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (NF - CC82)
4. *Bears Discover Fire by Terry Bisson (CC-97)
5. *In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (NF - CC 5)
6. *The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan (TBR - Library CC38)
7. Dead Girls Don't Dream by Nino Cipri (Library)
8. The Chinese Cookbook by Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee (NF)
9. Science Experiments You Can Eat by Vicki Cobb
10. The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
1. Leviathan Wakes (Finished 1/9/2025)
2. Caliban's War (Finished 1/25/2025)
3. Abaddon's Gate (Finished 3/31/2025)
4. Cibola Burn (Finished 6/28/2025)
5. *Nemesis Games (CC-78)
6. Babylon's Ashes
7. Tiamat's Wrath
8. Persepolis Rising
9. Leviathan Falls
11. Atlas of AI by Kate Crawford (NF)
12. Inspector Morse: The Daughters of Cain by Colin Dexter
13. Radicalized by Cory Doctorow
14. The French Girl by Lexie Elliott (Finished 7/7/2025)
15. *Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez (TBR - Library CC-9)
16. The Appeal by Janice Hallett (Finished 7/5/2025)
17. *The Girl From Everywhere Heidi Heilig (CC 29)
18. J.W. Wells & Co. Series by Tom Holt
1. The Portable Door
2. In Your Dreams
3. Earth, Air, Fire and Custard
4. You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps
5. The Better Mousetrap
6. May Contain Traces of Magic
7. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages
8. The Eight Reindeer of the Apocalypse
19. Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff (Library)
20. A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar 
21. *The Ruba'iyat of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam (CC 45)
22. A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher (Finished 7/9/2025)
23. A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher (Finished 7/2/2025)
24. Smithsonian American Table by Lisa Kingsley (NF)
25. The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery (NF)
26. *At the Fount of Creation by Tobi Obundiran (Library CC-50)
27. Umami Bomb by Raquel Pelzel (NF)
28. Project-Based Writing by Liz Prather (NF)
29. The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab
30. The Writing Rope by Joan Sedita (NF)
31. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
32. All Better Now by Neal Shusterman
33. *White Teeth by Zadie Smith (CC 13)
34. John Cleaver Series by Dan Wells
1. I Am Not a Serial Killer (Finished 5/15/2025)
2. Mr. Monster - (Finished 6/3/2025)
3. I Don't Want to Kill You (Finished 6/24/2025)
4. The Devil's Only Friend  (Finished 2/17/20250 )
5. Over Your Dead Body (Library)
6. Nothing Left to Lose
35. Crosstalk by Connie Willis

Boy 2.0 by Tracey Baptiste

 (The current list) 

I swiped this one off of the Dekalb Library's new YA display mostly because the cover art is just so cool. It feels like a shallow reason to pick up a book, but packaging is a large part of book promotion. People get a little sniffy about that, but illustration and cover art are very important to the success of new books. There are a lot of new books out there, and getting the attention of readers is difficult. 

Of course, the most amazing cover art in the world won't help if the book isn't also good. In this case, the story is quite good. Coal is a foster kid who's bounced around a bit. Tom has been his foster father for the last three years, but one day has a kind of psychotic break and is convinced there are people after Coal. Protective services come and Coal ends up with the McKays who are a large and boisterous family. They seem like good people, but it's a hard adjustment.

One day, he nearly gets shot by some old guy in the neighborhood. While trying to get away he realizes that he's turned invisible. Not his clothes, but still, a pretty cool super power. However, for a foster kid who has just shifted families, Coal has to figure out what this new power means all on his own. 

The plot is a touch predictable, but this is offset by the by the way that Baptiste addresses real-world issues. It's unflinching, but also avoids feeling preachy. The invisibility seems to work on a metaphoric level  as well. All in all, it's a great read and I'm planning to get a copy for my classroom library.

No Bake "Cookies"

 It is so hot right now. Nothing will keep me from cooking, but a sweet treat that didn't involve turning on the oven definitely appealed in this weather. As it turns out, these are delicious but so rich that it's more like candy than cookies. My original batch took the cookie idea seriously and made 24 cookie-sized confections. However at this size, they are almost overwhelming. Next time I make them, I'm going to aim for a much smaller size and try to get 62 out of the recipe.

No Bake Cookies

• 1/2 c butter
• 2 c sugar
• 1/2 c cocoa
• 1/2 c milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 c peanut butter
• 3 c rolled oats

1. Warm butter, sugar, cocoa, and milk in a pot over medium heat. Stir until sugar is completely melted and ingredients are combined. Bring to a slow boil and boil for 1 minute.
2. Remove from the heat and add vanilla and peanut butter. Stir until fully combined.
3. Add mixture to rolled oats and stir until oats are fully covered. 
4. Drop by the Tablespoonful on wax paper and let sit until chocolate fully sets. (At least an hour - the big size I made took close to 3 hours.)

A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage (2025 NF #7)

 (The current list) 

I'm tickled that I've done so well with nonfiction this year. It's never been that I don't like nonfiction. I just tend to get distracted and without a strong narrative thread to keep me focused, I have a tendency to put nonfiction down and lose track of it. 

Historically, the one area of nonfiction that I do read consistently concerns food. I like reading cookbooks and books about food production and politics, so it's surprising that it took me as long as it did to read A History of the World in 6 Glasses. I've had sitting in a stack for at least 10 years and it's right up my ally.

Really, this is a sort of general history of human development filtered through the lens of beverages. It's interesting because we've been creating alternatives to water almost from the very beginning. We take the availability of fresh, clean water for granted in the Western world. However one of the first things that happened when we started settling into semi-permanent and permanent villages was water contamination. This led to immediate problems. 

For all the legitimate issues in the modern world with alcohol, it did render water safe to drink in ancient time. So beer, wine, and other ferments were one of the first achievements of human development that allowed for large human settlements and ultimately birthed civilization. 

Standage moves from beer in ancient Mesopotamia and wine in Greece, through distilled liquors that fueled European exploration. Fun fact: distillation was perfected in the Arabic countries for use in creating perfumes. Who knew?

From the alcoholic beverages, Standage moves to coffee, tea, and soda. Thanks to college class on Bach, I was already familiar with much of the material in the coffee chapter. It was still a good overview and added information about the coffee houses in England and the rest of Europe. In fact, coffee was tightly involved with scientific development and the exchange of ideas in many areas. 

Tea pretty much funded the British Empire for about a decade. Soda was, it turns out, tied strongly to the idea of American capitalism and patriotism. So, all in all, a really interesting read. 

Defekt by Nino Cipri

 (The current list) 

This one is the sequel to Finna and I actually read it back at the beginning of April. My memory of it has gotten quite foggy but I actually liked it a great deal more than I did Finna. While the setting is the same and several of the side characters are the same, the main characters are completely different. 

Defekt is about Derek. From the beginning, it's clear that Derek is an odd ball. He works 18 hour shifts at the LitenVarld and lives in a tricked out packing container that sits in the back of the parking lot. He's bizarrely naive and loyal to the store. He doesn't seem to know how to interact with his coworkers. All of his mannerisms are practiced in front of a mirror. 

If it seems like he might not be entirely human, then you are definitely on the right track. In the last book we learned that LitenVarlds (basically Ikea) create thin places in the barriers between alternate universes. In this book, we learn that these thin places cause the occasional object to mutate and become sentient. This causes obvious problems, so once there are enough mutated objects in a store a special team is sent to destroy them. Derek's store has a mutated object problem and Derek is tapped to help the removal team. However, when the team arrives, Derek notices that they all look like him. 

It really felt like Cipri found the groove with this story. While, you don't really have to read Finna first, it would probably be a good idea. The world building in Finna helps to understand what is going on in Defekt.

Strange Pictures by Uketsu

 (The current list) 

Here is another book that I picked to fulfill a category on the Centennial Challenge. This is a novel I found on the new book shelf that is translated from Japanese. 

I didn't really know anything about it before I picked it up, but apparently this was apparently a bit of a sensation in Japan. The author has successfully hidden his or her identity and only shows up on youtube with a mask on and disguising his or her voice. It's more gimmicky than I usually go for but the mystery itself was quite good. 

The book is basically organized around four interconnecting shorter mystery stories. Each story involves a drawing produced by a character in the story. There are actually a lot of illustrations, it's a pretty visually interesting production.

The firsts story involves a series of drawings created by a pregnant woman just before she dies in child birth. The second story features a picture drawn by a young boy before he disappears and figuring out the drawing is key to finding him. The third story is about an art teacher who is brutally murdered after hiking to the top of a mountain. His mutilated body is found with an enigmatic landscape sketched on the back of a receipt. The fourth story ties everything into a single narrative. A young girl who is confined after killing her mother is asked by a therapist to draw a picture.

The writing style is a little sparse and quirky, but it's worth the effort. It's an unusual and interesting mystery

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego

 (The current list) 

I picked up this one off of a library display for the sake of Dekalb's centennial challenge. Then I had to rush through it because someone else requested it. While I do like mysteries, I'm always a little hesitant to pick up a new one. A poorly crafted mystery is a true disappointment. 

However, I needed a book from a library display for the challenge and You Are Fatally Invited seemed the most promising of the books on display. I later realized that it would have also satisfied two other categories as a debut book and one that features several unreliable narrators.

You Are Fatally Invited is borrowing heavily from a couple of Agatha Christie's novels. It features a group of mystery/thriller authors who are all invited out to an island retreat to theoretically work on their novels. However people start dying at a quick rate and each of the attendees is hiding something. 

If that sounds like the plot to And Then There Were None,  that's because it essentially is. The set up is virtually the same. The narrative bops around to each of the guests' points of view and its clear that they aren't just lying to each other; in some cases they are lying to themselves. One of the main points of view, Mila, is particularly annoying in that she keeps addressing her monologue to a mysterious "you." Second person narrative is tough to pull off and Pliego wasn't entirely successful. That being said, the character intrigue was well plotted and well designed. Pliego dropped loads of pop culture references which were fun to decode. 

Overall, this was a good worthwhile read. It's particularly impressive for a debut novel.