The Night Ends With Fire by K.X. Song

 Another find from my local library's new book shelf. I really am a sucker for good cover art and this one has a doozy of look. I probably was always going to pick it up based on that; finding out that it was a fantasy retelling of Mulan just sweetened the deal.

The fantasy world is built on traditional imperial Chinese culture. This includes the gender norms from that era which dictate that a woman's place is as property of her father and then her husband. She has little freedom of choice and she is not meant to have any kind of public life - at least not in the higher classes. Meilin is the daughter of a nobleman who wasted away the family fortune on opium. Her choices are limited and when her father decides to basically sell her off in marriage in order to pay off debts, Meilin feels trapped in a life she doesn't want. To make it worse, her intended husband is abusive and most likely killed all his previous wives.

A chance encounter with a young prince leaves Meilin with an idea. She decides to dress as a man and pose as the bastard son of her father in order to enlist in the army. So far, it's mostly in line with most Mulan adaptations. However, Meilin is not motivated by any kind of familial love. Meilin wants to escape her destiny.

The adaptation also has a fantasy element. Meilin's mother was a spirit-medium and eventually committed suicide after going mad. Meilin inherits a jade seal from her and soon realizes that it is a conduit for a powerful spirit to communicate with her. 

This is not a happy story and it ends on a seriously grim note. Far from bothering me, I actually found that a little refreshing. Meilin isn't a dewy eyed heroine and it would have felt disingenuous to have a Disney ending for her. The second book in the duology is coming out in August of 2025. I'm looking forward to finding out what happens

Indian Summer Salad

 One of the things Grandma E did was squirrel away magazine pages and ad fliers that had recipes on them. Apparently, in 1985 Jell-O published a little 8 page booklet that featured 6 recipes using the new(ish) sugar free Jell-O. 

Jell-O is actually a pretty interesting company to read up on. It's actually been around since 1897. The company actually came out with an artificially sweetened version they called D-Zerta in 1923. However, starting in the 60's through early 80's Jell-O was losing popularity which led to a marketing push. They went back to old cookbooks and put recipes out on fliers along with coupons. They hired Bill Cosby as a spokesperson and launched a new Sugar-Free Jell-O sweetened with NutraSweet in 1984. This ad-campaign is probably where Grandma's little booklet came from. 

Several of recipes look good, but I decided to try the "Indian Summer Salad" because it just sounded intriguingly weird. The recipe uses tomato juices as the fluid to make up a box of orange jell-o and has corn and celery mixed in. I imagined it would taste like a sweeter gazpacho. 

Indian Summer Salad (serves 5)

• 1 3 oz package Orange Sugar Free Jell-O
• 3/4 cup boiling tomato juice (I used spicy V8)
• 1 Tbls vinegar
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 cup cold tomato juice (I used spicy V8)
• 1 cup corn kernels
• 1/4 cup chopped celery (1 rib will do it)
• 2 Tbls canned green chilies

1. Completely dissolve gelatin in boiling juice. Add vinegar and chili powder.
2. Combine cold juice and ice to make 1 3/4 cups. Add to the gelatin, stirring until slightly thickened. Remove un-melted ice.
3. Add corn, celery and chilies. 
4. Chill or let stand until thickened, 5 to 10 minutes. Spoon into individual dishes or a bowl and chill.

I wasn't wrong about the general taste but it actually kind of tasting reminiscent of a sweet barbecue sauce. The orange of the jell-o takes a backseat to the tomato but the sweetness is fairly intense. Ryan actually liked it. Thomas and I less so. However, I do like the idea of it and I'm going to try a version that uses unflavored gelatin.

The Story Behind by Emily Prokop (Nonfiction #6 - 2025)

 This one was handed to me by my father-in-law almost two years ago. (Sorry, Bruce) Basically, it sat in my pile until my recent newfound love of nonfiction. Better late than never. I guess.

This is a collection book (my term).  Collection books specialize in collecting articles and media that were publish in some other place. I'm more used to collection books being collections of articles. This is a collection of podcasts which a few original pieces thrown in for good measure. 

The premise of the podcast is to investigate the origins of everyday innocuous items. Its a fun premise, but it got a touch tiresome reading it in one long protracted gulp the way I do with books. I think that says more about me as a reader than it does on the quality of the writing. 

My favorites were the articles on kevlar, correction fluid, salt water taffy, and mad hatters. Over all, it's a good book if not my exact cup of tea. 

The Devil's Only Friend by Dan Wells

(February List)

(March List) 

Short letter to the publishing industry: why oh why don't you indicate that a book is part of a series on the cover? Sure, a first book might eventually turn into a series unexpectedly, but by book four.... I think you knew. 

There's something profoundly frustrating about getting two thirds of the way through a novel only to realize that you've accidently started in the middle of a series. Usually when something like that happens, I put the book aside. It's just frustrating because the narrative assumes I know things that I maybe don't. In the case of The Devil's Only Friend, I managed to finish the book. I actually didn't feel like I was missing information reading it until the very end which speaks well of the author. I'm still frustrated that it wasn't marked anywhere on the cover that it was part of a series.

It's always interesting when the protagonist of a book could be considered a villain. We expect protagonists to be either heroic or sympathetic. Villains aren't either of those. When it's done well, it makes for an intriguing read, but if the author messes it up, it can make a book unreadable. Wells did a good job with it.

John Wayne Carver is 17 in this book and has the capacity to be a serial killer. He knows this and fights the impulses. He's devised a large number of rules to both protect those around him and himself. That doesn't mean he avoids the impulses entirely. He focuses all his energy into hunting and killing a very specific group of victims - demons. 

At some point before this book, the FBI discovered John's 'talents' and pulled him into a special taskforce who hunts the same group on behalf of the government. So, yes, the demons are real, or at least they are supernatural creatures who prey on humanity.

There's a lot of action and the investigative angles are interesting read. However, this really is a character driven book. John's interesting. There are moments where he's sympathetic, but mostly he's pretty alien and therefore interesting to 'watch'.

Wells's style is reminiscent of reading Tim Dorsey's books. It's a fast paced quick read. I read it over the course of a single afternoon and evening. I would not, however, hand this book to just anyone. There are some pretty disturbing moments.

March List

February wasn't the most productive month. I did read two nonfictions which were both ok, but I'm not in love with them. I also read 4 fiction which were mostly good. My favorite was probably Smoke City by Keith Rosson but none of them are destined to be books that I return to again and again. 

Honestly, it was just a tough month. Our cat continues to be sick and we know that he's really only likely to have several months left. I had my last lingering test from grad school on the 15th and waves of the cold/flu/gunk season keep hitting members of the household. It started with me, but both Ryan and Thomas have been varying levels of sick. It's just put a pinch on our levels of free time such as they are. 

I'm hoping to reset a lot of goals for March. I'd like to make up ground of course, but for now I'll settle for just getting back on the rails. A lot of the more physical goals are going to have to wait until everyone is healthy again. 

This month's list is much like last months list. The order is only half randomized. I've come to realize three things. First, as long as I'm getting books from the library, I'm going to need to take due dates into account in my lists. Second, a similar issue exists for books that are leant to me or books that I'm reading through TBR.co; random systems frequently don't play nice with deadlines. Third (and last), If I don't push up the series books, there's a very real chance that by the time I get to them, I'll have to restart the series before reading the latest volume. As a result, the first half of the list is deliberately organized so that I'm getting through the library and series books.

The List:

1. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo - 19
2. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite - 20
3. Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown
1. Red Rising  (Finished 2/10/2025)
2. Golden Son (Finished 3/21/2025)
3. Morning Star -21
4. Iron Gold
5. Dark Age
6. Light Bringer
4. Quiet  by Susan Cain -NF 2 
5. LitenVerse by Nino Cipri
1. Finna  (finished 1/25/2025)
2. Defekt (Library) - 7
6. Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman (Finished 3/18/2025)
7. 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 - 13
5. Nemesis Games-  
6. Babylon's Ashes
7. Tiamat's Wrath
8. Persepolis Rising
9. Leviathan Falls
8. Atlas of AI by Kate Crawford - NF 3
9. Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion - Ended up lending it to a student. I'll put it back on the list when the student is done. 
10. The French Girl by Lexie Elliot (Borrowed - Dad) - 17
11. Normal by Warren Ellis - 22
12. The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer - NF 5
13. Lady Janes series by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
1. My Lady Jane (Finished 11/4/2024) 
2. My Plain Jane (Finished 1/12/2025) 
3. My Calamity Jane - 8 
14. The Girl From Everywhere Heidi Heilig - 14
15. House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson (Finished 3/14/2025)
16. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt (Fantasy)
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar (Finished 7/6/2024)
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug (Finished 1/1/2024)
5. An Orc on the Wild Side - 9 
17. Blackheart Man by Nalo Hopkinson (Library) - 12
18. Fairy Tale by Stephen King - 10
19. Lake of Souls: The Collected Short Fiction by Ann Leckie (Ran out of time) 
20. Mead Mishaps by Kimberly Lemming
1. That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming (Finished 7/7/2024)
2. That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion At a Werewolf (Library) -15
21. Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis (Library) -11
22. The Writing Rope by Joan Sedita - NF 4
23. All Better Now by Neal Shusterman (Library) -23
24. John Cleaver Series by Dan Wells
1. I Am Not a Serial Killer - 16
2. Mr. Monster - 18
3. I Don't Want to Kill You
4. The Devil's Only Friend  (Finished 2/17/20250 )
5. Over Your Dead Body
6. Nothing Left to Lose
25. Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell (Finish 3/8/2025)

Assigned or otherwise pre-scheduled Reading:

1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (class novel) 
2. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (Thomas Book)