by Benjamin Stevenson Read by Barton Welch Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: There are deaths (it is a murder mystery after all), some swearing, including a few f-bombs, and talk of kidnapping. It’s in the Mystery section of the bookstore.
Ernest Campbell is a writer of how-to books: how to write a murder mystery, specifically. So, as he starts this story, he lays out the rules. And then, he strictly adheres to them (well, mostly) as he describes what happens at a family reunion in a ski chalet in Australia one winter. There’s history: no one in his family is completely innocent, but there are also murders happening at the chalet: A cop ends up dead to begin the book. We follow along with Ern as he attempts to unravel the mystery.
Oh, this was so much fun! Seriously. I love it when a book is the thing while satirizing the thing, and this absolutely was. It’s poking fun at all mysteries for having a “formula” while following the formula. The idea that our main character (only by default, because he’s writing the story down, as he reminds us) is someone who knows how to pick a mystery apart was fresh and funny. There are asides and snarky comments, and explanations (“I told you there was a plot hole in the book. I just drove a truck through it.”). It also helped that Welch was a particularly delightful narrator. He has a lovely Australian accent (which is appropriate, since it’s set in Australia), and is super engaging which keeps the story rolling.
I had a grand time with it, and have looked at the book as well – it’d be a fun read in either format.
by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Read by the author Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: There is some swearing, including a few f-bombs, as well as talk of drinking and drug use. It’s in the biography section of the bookstore.
Okay, I recognize that by reading this book I’m caving to peer pressure – everyone is reading this to find out the gossip. But, in my defense: I love celebrity memoirs (especially on audio), and Prince Harry is probably more of a relevant celebrity than, say, Bono. So, it was probably inevitable that I was going to listen to it.
Is this the point where I mention that while I’m not ignorant of the royals, I’m also not a super royal watcher. They’re interesting because, well, they’re the Royal family, but I’m not super invested in what Kate’s wearing right now.
That said, I was floored by the life Prince Harry has led. He had some smart observations on the nature of celebrity, musing at one point that the only thing he ever did to deserve having paparazzi chase him was be born. He’s not talented, he’s not a musician or an actor. Why is he a “celebrity”? Because he was born into this particular family. It’s a smartly written memoir (I’m assuming he had a ghostwriter help him), and he reads it well. And, well, if the purpose of the book was to work through the trauma surrounding his mother’s death and to explain why, ultimately, he and Meghan had to leave the family, then he did his job. It starts with his mom’s death, and moves forward through to the present day, and let’s just say that he has a deep resentment of both the paparazzi (who more than once just made up lies about him, his girlfriends, and now his wife) and the monarchy as an institution. He loves his family, and wishes he didn’t need to fight with them, but the monarchy? It’s not that great. It messes with people’s lives, it’s complicit in the bad press, and it desperately needs to be updated. And maybe Harry’s the person to do it.
It really was an interesting and engaging book, and surprised me with how engrossing it was. I definitly don’t regret reading it at all. And I wish Harry and Meghan all the happiness in the world. They deserve it.
by Kevin Wilson Read by Ginnifer Goodwin Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: There is some talk of violence and sex, and some swearing (maybe a couple of f-bombs? I can’t remember). It’s in the fiction section of the bookstore.
It’s the summer of 1996 in Coalfield, Tennessee, and there isn’t a whole lot to do, especially if you were 16. Frankie is resigned to another boring summer until she meets Zeke. And the two of them create a poster – Frankie comes up with the words and Zeke the art – that, once they start putting it up all over town, creates a panic. Two people end up dying, and there is talk of the poster coming from a Satanic cult. Frankie and Zeke promise to never tell, but 21 years later, Frankie is contacted by a reporter who has discovered that she is behind the Coalfield Craze of 1996. Now, it seems, the story needs to be told.
On the one hand, the book is an interesting musing on the purpose and reach of art: did the poster mean what everyone thought it meant? What responsibility do Frankie and Zeke have for others’ reactions to their art? There was a bit of coming-of-age, as Frankie had a first love, and her dreams were crushed, and realized that maybe everything isn’t perfect. But – I had issues with her as a 16-year-old. She felt… young. Obsessive. I hated the use of “weird” – she was “weird”, she felt “weird”, and she had a “weird” brain. It was a lot. I liked the narrator; she was sweet and read the book well, but in the end, I wasn’t sure I really got what Wilson was getting at.
by Adrienne Young First sentence: “There was a blue door with a black lantern on Forsyth Street.” Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Others in the series: Fable, Namesake, The Last Legacy (which I read but never wrote a blog post for!) Content: There is some mild swearing, violence, and one off-screen sex scene. It’s in the YA (grades 6-8) section of the bookstore.
In this prequel to Fable, we follow her father Saint, and her mother, Isolde, as they start out and first meet. Saint is a scrappy helmsman with a dream and a bit of a legend surrounding him. He’s not ruthless, but rather willing to get the job done no matter what it takes. He has dreams that the Narrows can be so much more than it is. Isolde is on the run from her mother, Holland, a master gem merchant and a terrible parent, someone who uses Isolde for her skill as a gem sage rather than caring for her as a daughter. When Isolde and Saint meet she is contracted to Zola, Saint’s nemesis, but things go sideways when Zola steals from Saint and he gets Isolde to get it back. From there, it’s history.
Look: it’s not a great book. But it is a fun story, and I’m invested in this world that Young has built. I’ll read pretty much any story set in the Narrows, even if it’s kind of lame. But, there is something about these characters, and I really did enjoy getting to know a different side of Saint. So, no: not high literature. But it was fun.
by Meik Wiking Read by the author Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: It’s pretty tame. It’s in the Design section of the bookstore, but it would work in the self-help section as well.
In this one-part design book, one-part explanation of what Hygge is, and one part self-help book on happiness, Wiking gives readers a layout of how to make their home their happy place. It’s got recipes, it’s got ideas on how to better develop communities (I feel like that’s a whole book in itself), and how to make your home a cozy, homey, inviting place. More hygge.
I did get some good ideas – more plants! more light! create nooks, and remember the functionality of the rooms – but mostly I was just delighted with Wiking’s narration. He was surprisingly delightful (I wasn’t expecting dad jokes!) and, well, Hygge, as he talked about his research at the Happiness Insitute in Copenhagen. Being Danish, he knows hygge (they invented it after all), and uses the philosophy and design elements to help stave off the dark winter months up there.
It’s not life-changing, but it was enjoyable, and I’ve found myself thinking about ways I can make my life this winter more hygge. So there’s that. At any rate, it’s a delightful listen, especially on a dark, January day.
by T. J. Klune Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Review copy provided by the publisher Release date: April 25, 2023 Content: There are a couple of swear words, including one or two f-bombs, plus some sexual humor. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.
This is one that I feel like the less you know, the better off you are. The basic premise is this: Vic is a human who is living with robots – his father, an anxious vacuum, and a sadistic nurse robot (trust me) – in the forest. One day, he discovers an android, fixes it, and brings it back online. It has a connection to Vic’s father (who is, yes, an android) which changes the course of Vic’s life.
What really drives this book is the characters. Yes, the plot is loosely based on The Adventures of Pinocchio (the book, not the Disney movie), but it’s the characters that drive the story. We got a couple of copies to pass around the store, and we kept reading passages about Rambo the vacuum and Nurse Rached aloud to each other. We started a text thread of quotes. We laughed a LOT. But it’s more than that, too. Klune is meditating on the purpose of humanity, whether we – with all our negatives – are actually worth being alive. And if we are worth it, what is that worth.
Also, know that I sobbed for the last 50 pages of the book. Klune pulled me into his world and I felt every bit of it. Heartbreak, love, humor, betrayal, acceptance, and loss.
I have been positively ruined for other books for a while. You will absolutely want to read this when it comes out in April.
I had an unusual reading year this year. Overall, my reading was down; more than half of my reading was graphic novels. I lacked the time and attention span to read longer books. I also listened to a lot more audiobooks than I usually do; it was a way to fit books in the cracks of the busyness that was my life this year. I want to be able to sit down and focus on reading; There is a part of me that misses doing that, but I also don’t quite know what to read anymore. With my current position at the bookstore, I’m hardly ever on the floor, so knowing what books are out and reading them has slipped in priority for me. Maybe I can change that in 2023.
Here are the numbers:
Middle Grade: 12 Young Adult: 22 Non-Fiction: 13 Adult Fiction: 23 Graphic Novels: 92 (be sure to check out our finalist lists at Cybils tomorrow!) Total: 162
Number of those that were audiobook: 23 Number of speculative fiction (not including graphic novels): 29 Number by BIPOC authors: 30 (18.5%; I need to do better.) Number by Latinx authors: 8 Number I reread: 13 Number I abandoned: 11
Out of those, here were my favorites:
There is a 10th, but it’s a graphic novel and so I’ll let it go this year because I was on the Cybils panel.
Some themes that I noticed this year:
So many memoirs!
I read/reread so many series (these are the first books):
Plus the next/last in continuing series!
And started new series:
So many series.
I (re)discovered an author I loved:
And fell into all the romance books:
Okay, not all Just five.
It wasn’t a bad reading year, in the end. I’m still hoping that next year will be better.
As per usual, I’ll round up the whole year tomorrow. As for December… It was another graphic novel-heavy month, but I didn’t mind. I was buy at work,a nd having a graphic novel to come home to was perfect. That said, my favorite wasn’t one
by Tom Felton Read by the author Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: There is talk of substance abuse, and swearing including a handful of f-bombs. It’s in the film section of the bookstore.
An admission: I’m not really a fan of Tom Felton’s. To be honest, while I liked the Harry Potter movies well enough, I was too old to get into being a fan of the child actors. It’s kind of creepy, at any rate. Let them be kids.
But, on the encouragement of a co-worker, I picked up Felton’s memoir on audiobook. And honestly? It’s delightful. I liked Felton’s devil-may-care attitude and the humor that he expresses looking back at the sort of kid that he was to land the role of Draco. He talks about how he ended up acting (it was a good way to skip school!) and talks fondly about his older brothers keeping his ego in check. He devotes a chapter to each of the people in the Potter films that influenced him (he has very kind things to say about Emma, Ruper, Daneil, and Jason Isaacs among others) and then goes into the past ten years after Potter. It wasn’t a great time for him. But he found his way through, and honestly, he sounds like a pretty decent man. He’s a delightful narrator (and does a spot-on American accent!) and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this one.
This is the last roundup for the year. My panel has met, and we’ve talked about all the books and come up with her our lists., which I’m quite proud of. It’s a good list, reflective of all the good graphic novels that have been published hits year We’ll announce it on January 1st!
Victory. Stand! by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabile Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There is racism and depictions of injustice. It’s in the Middle Grade Sports section of the bookstore.
This is the story of how Tommie Smith got to the 1968 Olympics, and the story behind the famous picture of him and John Carlos raising their fists at the medal ceremony. It’s a remarkable story, one full of sacrifice and good luck and determination and support. There is fighting for equality and civil rights, as well as excellence in sports.
I know I’ve seen the photo lots of times, but honestly, I’ve never thought about the story behind it. As a result, this book was incredibly fascinating. I liked hearing Smith’s story and the sacrifices and hardships as well as the opportunities he had on his path toward the Olympics. it was a reminder that racism was (is) everywhere, not just in the South, and that things were (are) much harder for Black people than it needed to be. The amount of racism that Smith faced is astounding, and it’s a little-known civil rights story that deserves to be told. An excellent book.
Tiny Dancer by Siena Cherson Siegel and Mark Siegel Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Other ins the “series”: To Dance Content: There are some mild swearing, divorce, and body image issues. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.
About 16 years ago, the Siegels wrote a middle-grade graphic novel about Siena’s experience being a ballerina. It’s a good book, one that talks about the path to being a professional ballerina, and the subsequent injury that derailed Siena’s career. I thought it was a good story, a complete story, but the Siegels must have thought there was more to tell. Enter Tiny Dancer, where Siena goes deeper into what it takes to be a ballerina on the highest level and the consequences and aftermath of her injury. I don’t know if this book was necessary, but I found it interesting and worth reading. It hits some of the same beats as To Dance, but it adds another, deeper layer to the story. And, as usual, Mark Siegel’s art is beautiful, capturing the elegance of the dancers as well as the pain and indecision post-injury. A good book, overall.
Slip by Marika McCoola and Aatmata Pandya Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There is talk of mental illness, as well attempted suicide, and some swearing, including a couple f-bombs.
Jade has gotten into a prestigious art camp, a place for her to hone her art and get ready for art school. Right before she leaves, she finds out that her best friend Phoebe has attempted suicide and has been hospitalized. Jade still goes to the camp, but finds that she can’t focus because she’s worried about Phoebe. She also feels guilty as she develops feelings for another camper, Mary. It’s compliated dealing with everything, and Jade is not quite sure how to move on.
I really liked this one. I liked the discussion of mental illness and the difficulty it is when friends don’t know what to do when their friends are sick. I liked the art aspect, and the slight magical realism in it. It’s beautifully drawn, and I think it opens up an avenue for discussions of suicide and how to deal with friends who are suffering. Really really good.
The Book Nut 