Adult Fiction

Playing the Witch Card

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by KJ Dell’Antonia
First sentence: “Other people, when forced to start over, do so in appropriate places.”
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Content: There’s some swearing, including multiple f-bombs and talk of witchcraft. It’s in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

Flair finally has left her no-good, cheating husband to move herself and her daughter back to small-town Kansas to run her late grandmother’s bakery. The thing Flair refuses to do, though, is participate in the other family business: magic. Sure, reading tarot cards for her is more like tempting fate – things seem to Happen after Flair does a reading – but she’s steadfastly refused to take part of thing. That is, until she bakes magic cookies and accidentally curses her no-good, cheating husband. And then when her mother suddenly shows up on Flair’s doorstep with Flair’s cursed not-quite-ex in tow, things get complicated. Throw in an old high-school romance that gets rekindled, and suddenly things get more complicated than Flair bargained for.

This was… fine. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but it’s not going to stay with me. Dell’Antonia writes some good characters, and some fun scenes, and I did like the light magic system that she created. But… I got annoyed with Flair’s trying to control everything (though I understood it), and wanted to shake her: you can’t micromanage a 13-year-old! It never ends well (and it didn’t). The villans of the story were more talked about as villans rather than being actually villan-y, and the romance was just kind of there. These aren’t really criticisms; it was fun while I was reading it, and I did finish it. It’s just, in the end, it’s… just fine.

Audiobook: Fourth Wing

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by Rebecca Yarros
Read by Rebecca Soler & Teddy Hamilton
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: It’s super sweary, super violent, and lots of on-screen sexytimes. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Violet Sorrengail was supposed to be a scribe. But then her father passed away and her mother – who is the general in charge of the flight battle school – has different plans for her. Violet – frail, sickly Violet – is given no choice: she has to join the battle school. The place where you either graduate or die. The book takes place over the first year, as Violet learns to navigate the cruelties of the school, makes – and loses – friends, and finds an unreasonable attraction to the son of an executed rebel leader, Xaden Riorson.

My first reaction when listening to this? It’s not objectively a good book. Like, the writing is not great. But, it’s a lot of fun. I think it helped that Soler was slightly unhinged reading the book. She was chewing through scenery, which honestly, is what this book needed. It’s not a book to be taken seriously at all. That said, Yarros is a good storyteller. There was a lot of action, the battle scenes were pretty intense, and there were some nice surprises as well. I will probably read the second book in the series, just to see where it goes.

So, do I respect this book? No. Will I recommend it? Depends on the person. Do I understand why it’s the Big Thing that it is? Oh yeah. I get it now.

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle

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by Matt Cain
First sentence: “Albert Entwistle was a postman.”
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Content: There is bullying of a gay man, blatant homophobia, and violence by the police towards gay men. It’s in the fiction section of the bookstore.

Albert Entwistle has been a postman since he was 16 years old. It’s basically been his whole life, especially since his (overbearing and critical) mother died 18 years ago. Now that he’s almost 65, the Royal Mail has decided that it’s time for Albert to retire. This sends Albert into a bit a of a tailspin: what is he supposed to do with his life without the routine of carrying the mail?

The answer comes when he finds an old picture: he’s going to go looking for the boy he fell in love with when he was sixteen. On the way, he opens up to his coworkers, makes several friends, and learns to accept and be open about his sexuality.

I think I picked this up becuase a bookseller (at a different bookstore) told me it was very heart-warming and affirming, and I have to agree. It’s a sweet story about the importance of belonging and the way being open to other people can your enrich your life. It’s charming and sweet, and very English. It’s very cis, though it does talk about drag culture some, and there’s no on-page sex (it’s all implied). Perhaps it’s one of those gay books for non-gay people, but I liked it for the emphasis on friendships and community. It’s charming and sweet and a feel-good read. And I enjoyed it a lot.

Audiobook: Business or Pleasure

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by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Read by Hathaway Lee
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: Oh, there’s sooo much in here. All the f-bombs, all the on-page sex. Very, very spicy. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Chandler is a ghostwriter who is unhappy with her life. So when she meets a guy in a bar after a failed book signing (the author she wrote the book for didn’t even recognize Chandler’s name), she has a one-night stand with him. However, it’s the worst sex she’s ever had. (Or at least had in a long time.) So, when she gets a gig ghostwriting for the C-list actor Finn Walsh, she’s shocked (and a bit embarrassed) that he’s the guy she just slept with. She agrees to take the job, and as they travel from con to con (he’s best known for playing a science nerd on a werewolf show) they get to know each other, and the truth comes out: he’s terrible in bed. He’s a unicorn of a man and wants to know how to get better, so Chandler agrees to give him detailed sex lessons. Practical experience. The problem is: how can she keep her heart out of it?

Oh, this one made me blush! I kept hitting the very detailed, quite graphic sex scenes while at the gym (I’m blushing because I’m exercising, really!). But, honestly? It’s a fun book. It’s super sex-positive, and Chandler stresses in her lessons that communication between partners is vital to having a good experience. I kind of felt like I should be taking notes! But, beyond that, I enjoyed the relationship between Chandler and Finn, and how they pushed each other to become better and more confident people. So, yeah: super spicy, and probably not for everyone. But ultimately, I quite enjoyed it.

System Collapse

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by Martha Wells
First sentence: “Dr. Bharadwaj told me once that she thought I hated planets because of the whole thing with being considered expendable and the possibility of being abandoned.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Network Effect
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: November 14, 2023
Content: Like all Murderbot books, there is a lot of violence and swearing (Wells is a master of the artfully placed f-bomb). It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

The events of this Murderbot book pick up shortly after those in Network Effect: Murderbot and his humans are trying to help the colony of humans fend off the advances of an unethical corporation that’s trying to take over the planet. Things go badly, of course, and Murderbot has to keep his humans safe. Except there’s something wrong with it [it’s redacted]that is interfering with its ability to do just that. 

I really don’t have much new to say about this one. It’s just as smart, tight, and fun as the rest of the series. I will seriously go anywhere in this world that Wells wants to take me, and happily read every new Murderbot book. I love them so much, and the only problem is having to wait for the net one to come out.

The Unhoneymooners

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by Christina Lauren
First sentence: “In the calm before the storm – in this case, the blessed quiet before the bridal suite is overrun by the wedding party – my twin sister stares critically down at a freshly painted shell-pink fingernail and says, ‘I bet you’re relieved I’m not a bridezilla.'”
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Content: There is swearing, including multiple uses of the f-bomb, and an on-screen sex scene. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Olive Torres is sure of one thing: she’s unlucky. Her twin sister is the glamorous one, the successful one, the one who is about to get married to the man of her dreams. And Olive? She just lost her job, she has no luck in dating, and perhaps worst of all: she’s stuck in a florescent green bridesmaid’s dress. So, when everyone at her sister’s wedding gets food poisoning from the buffet, she’s encouraged to go on the non-refundable, non-transferable honeymoon by her sister. The catch: the best man, Ethan, whom Olive despises, has to go too. Determined to make the most of a vacation to Maui, even if it’s with someone she hates (and who hates her), Olive agrees. The thing is: the reality is sometimes vastly different from the perception.

Ah, your classic enemies-to-lovers trope (mixed up with fake marriage – they’re on their “honeymoon” after all – and only one bed) with two people who just loathe each other learning to actually get past perceptions and miscommunications and, well, fall in love. It’s a classic for a reason. I enjoyed the push and pull between Olive and Ethan, and thought their ups and downs were very realistic. I liked the chemistry they had, and the way Olive had to learn to trust herself, and not just fall back on the excuse that she’s “unlucky”. The only thing I wasn’t thrilled with was the fact that Christina Lauren is the pen name of two white women, but Olive and her family are most definitely Latinx. Not a god look, that. Even so, it was a fun little read.

The Fragile Threads of Power

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by V. E. Schwab
First sentence: “It came in handy, being small.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, A Conjuring of Light
Release date: September 26, 2023
Review copy provided by the publisher. 
Content: There is a lot of violence (as with any Schwab book, really), and some swearing (including a few f-bombs). It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

A lot is going on in this book. Let’s see if I can sum it up properly. It’s seven years after the events in A Conjuring of Light. Kell is still without magic (sorry: spoilers). Rhy is the king of Arnes, but there is growing unrest in London and the whisperings of a group – The Hand – that wants to overthrow the kingdom. Lila and Kell are on a boat, being pirates (excuse me: privateers). And then there’s the new characters: Kosika, who is the child Antari queen of White London, and who has the ghost of Holland to guide her as she slowly (and somewhat fanatically) tries to wake White London back up. And Tess (my favorite!), who, much like Alucard, can see magic, except she has the unique talent of being able to fix the broken threads. She is on the run, in hiding from a father who wants to abuse her power, and she unwittingly (and somewhat unwillingly) gets caught up in The Hand’s scheme. 

Whew. It’s a lot of book. 

I tried reading it without revisiting the first series, and honestly? It didn’t take. There are a lot of flashbacks in this book – perhaps too many; sometimes it felt like Schwab was just giving fan service – and I wasn’t enjoying it. But, then I went back and re-read the other three, and then came back to this book. It sat much better, and I enjoyed it a lot more. I do wish Schwab would have spent less time on the flashbacks (or maybe did a series of short stories? a novella, perhaps?) and more time on the actual plot – the Hand and their machinations. I didn’t get enough of Tess until nearly the end. And there’s a twist that I’m not entirely sure I like. 

That said, Schwab is a gifted storyteller, and it’s quite lovely to be back in this rich world. For all my complaints, there’s a lot of good in the book. And yes, I will most likely read the next one.

Audiobook: The Dead Romantics

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by Ashley Poston
Read by Eileen Stevens
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is death, swearing (including multiple f-bombs), and on-screen sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Florence Day has two secrets: she is the ghostwriter for popular romance author Anne Nichols, and she can see ghosts. She also ended a long-term relationship (when he stole her ghost memories and turned them into a best-selling novel) and her father suddenly dies, so she finds herself in her hometown for the first time in 10 years.

So, imagine her surprise when her editor – who she was pretty sure was alive in New York when she left – turns up as a ghost on the doorsteps of her family’s funeral home.

I’ve had this one on my radar since it came out, and a couple of co-workers loved it, but it became more urgent that I read it once I finished The Seven-Year Slip. And, while I don’t think it was as good as that one, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

I like how Poston weaves in deeper themes than the meet-cute and falling-in-love you get in a typical romance. (She does have that, though. It’s just a bonus!) Florence is dealing with the betrayal by her ex, and the feelings of failure and inability to finish the romance she’s supposed to be writing. She’s dealing with the grief of losing her father, and coming to terms with her siblings who are angry that she abandoned the family. She is also falling in love with a ghost, which ha the potential to be really weird, but actually works, and works well.

The best thing about this one, though, is the narrator. She is fabulous. It kept me entertained and pulled into the story, and I loved listening to it. I think The Seven-Year Slip is the better book, but this one is a lot of fun as well.

Audiobook: Remarkably Bright Creatures

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by Shelby Van Pelt
Read by Marin Ireland & Michael Urie
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some swear words, including a few f-bombs, and talk of suicide. It’s in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

Soon after her husband’s death, Tova Sullivan takes a night job cleaning at an aquarium on Puget Sound. The same body of water where her son, Erik, mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. She’s a kind, quiet woman, who talks to the animals, and soon makes a connection with Marcellus, a rescued Giant Pacific Octopus.

Cameron is a bit of a dead-beat 30-year-old, one who is not able to keep a steady job and who still has dreams of “making it” as the lead guitarist in a band. When his girlfriend finally gets fed up and kicks him out and his aunt finds a bag of his mother’s stuff (a mother who abandoned him at age 9), Cameron heads up to the same small Puget Sound town, looking for the person he believes to be his father.

What he finds, and what Tova comes to realize, is a community that supports one another, and that sometimes, there are remarkably bright creatures in your midst.

This one was remarkable, particularly on audio. Urie, who voices the Marcellus chapters – yes, there are chapters written from an octopus’s point of view and they are incredible – is an absolute delight as a narrator. I adored the world-weariness that he infused in Marcellus’ narration; it often made me laugh aloud. And Ireland, who voiced the rest of the book, was also incredible. It was a book that I didn’t want to stop listening to, one of the those that you sit listening to in the car, even after you arrive at your destination. But even more than the narration, I liked how Van Pelt wove the stories together. I cared about the characters (even the ocotpus!) and the way their lives wove together. I wanted them all to be happy, to find resolution. And I was supremely satisfied, in the end.

A truly excellent little novel, defintely worth the hype it got.

Audiobook: One Italian Summer

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by Rebecca Serle
Read by Lauren Graham
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is an off-screen(ish) sex scene and some swearing, including some f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore, though I disagree with that.

Katy’s mother has just died of cancer, and her life is spinning out of control. She feels unmoored (she’s an only child), and she is not sure she wants to stay in the life she (well, honestly: her mother) has built for herself. She and her mom had planned to go spend a couple of weeks in Positano, Italy and so Katy is encouraged by her dad and her husband to go take the trip anyway. It might help with the grief. What she finds, when she gets there is something magical: her mother, age 30, in the summer she spent in Italy. (There’s also a hot American guy she hooks up with, but that’s not really the point.) Over the course of the weeks, Katy finds herself unwinding, and when the Big Reveal comes, she is in a better place to accept it and move on. 

I’ve had this on my TBR (or actually, it was the audiobook to-listen to list) for ages since it first came out. But it seemed like this summer was the time. It’s good on the Italy detail – I got that Katy was having a gorgeous time in a gorgeous place, eating so much yummy food. But, I was annoyed with her relationship with her mother: she let her mother do everything.  She was married! She was an adult! It can’t be healthy. I guess that’s part of her growth arc? I don’t know I didn’t hate it; I loved Graham as the narrator, and I thought it dealt with grief and death extremely well. I guess I was just expecting something, well, fluffier than I got. In the end, though, I was charmed by the Italian landscape. And I liked Katy’s growth. So it wasn’t half-bad.