gilda_elise | Entries tagged with goodreads 2025

In Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race, a junior anthropologist on a distant planet must help the locals he has sworn to study to save a planet from an unbeatable foe.

Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way.

But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she’s an adult (albeit barely) and although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as long as her people have lived here (though none in living memory has approached it).

But Elder Nyr isn’t a sorcerer, and he is forbidden to help, for his knowledge of science tells him the threat cannot possibly be a demon…

Tchaikovsky has a habit of writing books in series; unfortunately, that isn’t the case with this one. Add to that its short length, and it’s a bit of a disappointment, because I would love to continue reading about Lynette and Nyr. Both are interesting characters who must learn to cooperate if they stand of chance of overcoming what threatens their land.

You get to know Lynesse from the start; it’s her quest and she has her mind set on what she must do. She goes to ask for help from who she thinks is a sorcerer, unaware that what she sees as magic is the technology of an advanced people. Nyr is not a sorcerer, but because of his situation, it takes a while to get to know him. And just as you are, the story ends.

The story jumps back and forth between their perspectives; for Lynesse it’s magic; for Nyr it’s science. It’s an interesting juxtaposition of world views that makes for an intriguing story.

( Mount TBR 2025 Book Links 1-20 )

21. We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
22. America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War by H.W. Brands
23. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham
24. The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
25. A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen
26. Lost and Found by Marilyn Harris
27. Strange Weather: Four Short Novels by Joe Hill
28. Three Wild Dogs by Markus Zusak
29. Full Throttle by Joe Hill
30. Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next #2) by Jasper Fforde
31. Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

If resourceful, fearless literary detective Thursday Next thought she could avoid the spotlight after her heroic escapades in the pages of Jane Eyre, she was sorely mistaken.

Her adventures as a renowned Special Operative in literary detection have left Thursday Next yearning for a rest. But when the love of her life is eradicated by the corrupt multinational Goliath Corporation, Thursday must bite the bullet and moonlight as a Prose Resource Operative in the secret world of Jurisfiction, the police force inside the books. There she is apprenticed to Miss Havisham, the famous man-hater from Dicken's Great Expectations, who teaches her to book-jump like a pro. If she retrieves a supposedly vanquished enemy from the pages of Poe's "The Raven," she thinks Goliath might return her lost love, Landen. But her latest mission is endlessly complicated. Not only are there side trips into the works of Kafka and Austen, and even Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Flopsy Bunnies, Thursday finds herself the target of a series of potentially lethal coincidences, the authenticator of a newly discovered play by the Bard himself, and the only one who can prevent an unidentifiable pink sludge from engulfing all life on Earth.

As with the first book in the series, I felt there were perhaps a few too many plot lines to keep straight. Actually, there seemed to be even more with this book, which is probably why I didn’t enjoy it as much. I think the 400 pages would have done better at 350. Maybe even 300, because I found myself jumping ahead, skipping paragraphs, not at all concerned at what I might be missing. Turns out, usually I didn’t miss a thing.

Thursday jumps from book to book, trying to retrieve Hades from Poe’s The Raven, trying to outwit the Goliath Corporation, as well as staying one step ahead of her own people, all the while hoping to keep the Earth from ending in a covering of pink sludge. Oh, and trying to get her husband back, keep her flat, and watch out for her dodo and the bird’s egg. All while being pregnant, herself. That’s an awfully lot to keep straight. Or, unfortunately, to stay interested in. And I’m sure I’ve left out some things.

I’m pretty sure I won’t be reading the third book. Just the thought of reading another book like this one is exhausting!

JUN – Great, Wander, Child, Mine, Book, Watch, Heart, Save

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde

A little door that opens to a world of fairy tale wonders becomes the blood-drenched stomping ground for a gang of hunters in “Faun.” A grief-stricken librarian climbs behind the wheel of an antique Bookmobile to deliver fresh reads to the dead in “Late Returns.” In “By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain,” two young friends stumble on the corpse of a plesiosaur at the water’s edge, a discovery that forces them to confront the inescapable truth of their own mortality . . . and other horrors that lurk in the water’s shivery depths. And tension shimmers in the sweltering heat of the Nevada desert as a faceless trucker finds himself caught in a sinister dance with a tribe of motorcycle outlaws in “Throttle,” co-written with Stephen King.

I’m not normally one for short stories, but I do so enjoy Hill’s writing. And there were some in this collection that I enjoyed immensely. Throttle, which is the only story that doesn’t have a supernatural or sci-fi slant, is really quite good, but I enjoyed the stories that did wander off into strange avenues. Dark Carousel, Faun, and especially Late Return are favorites when it came to the supernatural, but it was the sci-fi story,You Are Released, that was my favorite.

Of course there were those that I didn’t care for, some not at all, mostly those whose endings were a bit too dark for me; YMMV on that.

Still, I felt the book leaned enough into the worth reading column. Maybe because many of the stories are quite long, sort of pushing out into novella territory, that I was able to overlook the stories that I wasn’t all that crazy about.

In this poignant, funny, and disarmingly honest memoir, one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book Thief, tells of his family’s adoption of three troublesome rescue dogs—a charming and courageous love story about making even the most incorrigible of animals family.

There’s a madman dog beside me, and the hounds of memory ahead of us . . . It’s love and beasts and wild mistakes, and regret, but never to change things.

What happens when the Zusak family opens their home to three big, wild, street-hardened dogs—Reuben, more wolf than hound; Archer, blond, beautiful, destructive; and the rancorously smiling Frosty, who walks like a rolling thunderstorm?

The answer can only be chaos: There are street fights, park fights, public shamings, property damages, injuries, hospital visits, wellness checks, pure comedy, shocking tragedy, and carnage that must be read to be believed.

There is a reckoning of shortcomings and failure, a strengthening of will, but most important of all, an explosion of love—and the joy and recognition of family.

Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth) is a tender, motley, and exquisitely written memoir about the human need for both connection and disorder, a love letter to the animals who bring hilarity and beauty—but also the visceral truth of the natural world—straight to our doors and into our lives and change us forever.

If you’ve ever owned a dog that wasn’t quite perfect, that had issues that you struggled to overcome, a dog you loved, anyway, then this is the book for you. The author brings his dogs to life with every challenge met, but not always won, with every illness that you’re sure will be the end, but magically isn’t. Until it is.

Even though I was reading about someone else’s dogs, I couldn’t help but think of my own, some gone decades, others only a few years. They all were right there with me, as I’m sure Zusak’s still are with him. We love them so much, yet know that we will lose them much too soon.

I laughed at some of the situations that Zusak found himself in with Reuben and Archer. Cried when the inevitable happened. He now has Frosty, but admits that the kind of love that comes with years isn’t there yet. But he knows it will be someday. I know that feeling; that’s what a dog, or a cat, bring to their people. As is so evident in this book, no matter the pain at the end, they’re more than worth it.

A collection of four chilling novels, ingeniously wrought gems of terror from the brilliantly imaginative, Joe Hill

Snapshot is the disturbing story of a Silicon Valley adolescent who finds himself threatened by “The Phoenician,” a tattooed thug who possesses a Polaroid Instant Camera that erases memories, snap by snap.

A young man takes to the skies to experience his first parachute jump. . . and winds up a castaway on an impossibly solid cloud, a Prospero’s island of roiling vapor that seems animated by a mind of its own in Aloft.

On a seemingly ordinary day in Boulder, Colorado, the clouds open up in a downpour of nails—splinters of bright crystal that shred the skin of anyone not safely under cover. Rain explores this escalating apocalyptic event, as the deluge of nails spreads out across the country and around the world.

In Loaded, a mall security guard in a coastal Florida town courageously stops a mass shooting and becomes a hero to the modern gun rights movement. But under the glare of the spotlights, his story begins to unravel, taking his sanity with it. When an out-of-control summer blaze approaches the town, he will reach for the gun again and embark on one last day of reckoning.

I’m loving Joe Hill’s work almost as much as his father’s (which he probably hates hearing.) I’ll read anything he writes. Haven’t been disappointed yet. Certainly not with this collection. I especially like that they’re more novellas than short stories. And while they tend to veer more toward science fiction, they all have touches of horror.

As I see them:

Snapshot: Creepy and horrifying, yet bittersweet, too, as the protagonist finds love in the most unexpected place. I was hoping for a different ending, but things don’t always work out the way we want. No matter my feelings about it, it made sense.

Loaded: Watching as, step by step, the inevitable happens. Terrifying how likely something like this could happen. Actually, may have already happened. I hated the ending, though.

Aloft: A unique story, more sci-fi than horror. I loved how the young man works out as to what’s going on, and how to deal with it.

Rain: Another more sci-fi than horror, though horrifying enough. I loved the main protagonist; she could definitely take care of herself, though a little help is always welcome. Didn’t see the ending to this one coming. I think it was my favorite story of the four.

On Christmas Eve, 1930, in America's dust bowl, a young woman delivers her baby alone. Plain, warmhearted Martha Drusso takes the downy-haired infant she names Belle to raise as her own, along with another orphan in her care, a little boy named R.C.

But when Belle is three, her stepbrother mistakenly puts her on a train bound for Los Angeles, then leaves to get her a treat. The train takes off, and Belle is pitched into a child's worst nightmare: a series of orphanages and foster homes. When she is adopted into a loving Japanese-American family, it seems Belle's troubles are over -- until World War II breaks out. Never defeated, Belle is adopted again, and her beautiful singing voice ultimately leads her to Hollywood, and to love and marriage.

All the while, Martha and R.C. steadfastly continue to search for Belle. For thirty years they believe that the persistence of their hearts will bring their little family together again . . . .

"The power and integrity of Harris's prose turn this novel into something valuable." -- Atlanta Journal & Constitution

The book has a lot going for it. An intriguing plot, some interesting characters, and the background of a changing America.

Martha and R. C. are especially appealing. Their lives are often hard, but they manage to overcome adversity and carry on. They enjoy what they have, yet always in the background is Belle, the lost child.

Unfortunately, that’s where things go off the rails. Belle is too perfect. She’s beautiful, and has a voice like an angel. She’s brilliant, but her naivety, which I suppose is supposed to show the pureness of her heart, can be a bit much sometimes. She overlooks, and I guess the reader is supposed to, too, the manipulative and insensitive nature of her boyfriend’s father. What would happen next was pretty obvious. And kind of creepy.

I think the book could have done without the last ten years. At that point the story started to get redundant, as they almost find each other, their paths almost crossing.

The ending left me wondering if there was going to be more to Belle and R.C.’s relationship. Not sure how I would have felt about that.

MAY – Lost, City, Wind, Hide, Lie, Fan, Room, Clear

Lost and Found by Marilyn Harris
⁠

How do you start over after the end of the world?

Six years after a global pandemic wiped out most of the planet’s population, the survivors are rebuilding the country, split between self-governing cities, hippie communes and wasteland gangs.

In post-apocalyptic San Francisco, former pop star Moira has created a new identity to finally escape her past—until her domineering father launches a sweeping public search to track her down. Desperate for a fresh start herself, jaded event planner Krista navigates the world on behalf of those too traumatized to go outside, determined to help everyone move on—even if they don’t want to. Rob survived the catastrophe with his daughter, Sunny, but lost his wife. When strict government rules threaten to separate parent and child, Rob needs to prove himself worthy in the city’s eyes by connecting with people again.

Krista, Moira, Rob and Sunny are brought together by circumstance, and their lives begin to twine together. But when reports of another outbreak throw the fragile society into panic, the friends are forced to finally face everything that came before—and everything they still stand to lose.

Because sometimes having one person is enough to keep the world going.

This is a truly different take on what goes on after a global pandemic; probably not since Alas, Babylon, has a book focused so much on, not how people got there, but where do they go from here. Yes, the pandemic is important, since it set the stage for what was to come. But people lives must go on.

All four characters are well drawn, though Sunny probably not as much as the grownups, since there is less history to draw from. Yet, at the same time, she is very much in the center of what is going on with the three people within her orbit. So while Sunny’s character changes very little, Krista’s, Moira’s, and Rob’s certainly do. All three must face the mistakes of their pasts, and deal with them within the difficult surroundings of a world vastly changed. How they do so shows their growth as individuals. Even more importantly, it shows that, just maybe, there will still be a future for them.

A powerful and fierce reimagining of the earliest Roman legend: the twins, Romulus and Remus, mythical founders of history’s greatest empire, and the woman whose sacrifice made it all possible.

The names Romulus and Remus may be immortalized in map and stone and chronicle, but their mother exists only as a preface to her sons’ journey, the princess turned oath-breaking priestess, condemned to death alongside her children.

But she did not die; she survived. And so does her story. Beautiful, royal, rich: Rhea has it all—until her father loses his kingdom in a treacherous coup, and she is sent to the order of the Vestal Virgins to ensure she will never produce an heir.

Except when mortals scheme, gods laugh.

Rhea becomes pregnant, and human society turns against her. Abandoned, ostracized, and facing the gravest punishment, Rhea forges a dangerous deal with the divine, one that will forever change the trajectory of her life…and her beloved land.

To save her sons and reclaim their birthright, Rhea must summon nature’s mightiest force – a mother’s love – and fight. All roads may lead to Rome, but they began with Rhea Silvia.

The story aligns quite closely to the mythology, but this is Rhea Silvia’s story and she is very much front and center. Who she was, her life before her father’s kingdom was taken from him. And how she managed to survive afterwards makes for a compelling story. She makes some huge mistakes, but ultimately finds a way forward. Her sons are her world, and she does everything she can to insure their survival.

But there were others in her life; her cousin, Antho, is probably the most important. I loved their relationship, more like sisters than cousins. Unlike so many others in Rhea’s life, she manages to survive. There is Rhea’s father, who disappoints her so many times, yet she clings to her memories of their time together when she was a child. And, of course, the gods.

I’m so looking forward to reading more by this author.

Goodreads 25

A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine — but the real drama is behind the scenes in this sumptuous historical epic from the author of Mexican Gothic.

1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times.

So when the film’s mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.

Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood—a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue—make for a sizzling combination.

But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart.

Before the curtain comes down, there will be tears and tragedy aplenty in this sexy Technicolor saga.

The book is slow to start, as we’re introduced to the main characters. There’s Vera, who has lucked into a prime role. Nancy, who probably isn’t as talented as she thinks she is. And then there’s Salome, whose story is intertwined with that of the actress who’s portraying her. There’s also the men in their lives, who don’t come across as strongly as the women do. Their roles are very much second string.

This is definitely a step away from Moreno-Garcia’s usual work; there’s not a touch of the mystical, and the only horror is the way some of the characters are willing to do anything in order to get ahead. I have to say, I missed the unworldliness that usually permeates her books.

It wasn’t until near the end that the pace picks up; enough to make up for the rest of the book. The tragedy of their lives comes full circle with Salome’s. No one walks away unscathed.

MAY: “Virtual Book Club” - Read a book from a celebrity/influencer book club list, an organization’s book club list, your library’s book club lists, or a book club you’re a part of.

Good Morning America Book Club
The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Andrew Jackson, his intimate circle of friends, and his tumultuous times are at the heart of this remarkable book about the man who rose from nothing to create the modern presidency. Beloved and hated, venerated and reviled, Andrew Jackson was an orphan who fought his way to the pinnacle of power, bending the nation to his will in the cause of democracy. Jackson's election in 1828 ushered in a new and lasting era in which the people, not distant elites, were the guiding force in American politics. Democracy made its stand in the Jackson years, and he gave voice to the hopes and the fears of a restless, changing nation facing challenging times at home and threats abroad. To tell the saga of Jackson's presidency, acclaimed author Jon Meacham goes inside the Jackson White House. Drawing on newly discovered family letters and papers, he details the human drama-the family, the women, and the inner circle of advisers- that shaped Jackson's private world through years of storm and victory.

One of our most significant yet dimly recalled presidents, Jackson was a battle-hardened warrior, the founder of the Democratic Party, and the architect of the presidency as we know it. His story is one of violence, sex, courage, and tragedy. With his powerful persona, his evident bravery, and his mystical connection to the people, Jackson moved the White House from the periphery of government to the center of national action, articulating a vision of change that challenged entrenched interests to heed the popular will - or face his formidable wrath. The greatest of the presidents who have followed Jackson in the White House-from Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt to FDR to Truman-have found inspiration in his example, and virtue in his vision.

Jackson was the most contradictory of men. The architect of the removal of Indians from their native lands, he was warmly sentimental and risked everything to give more power to ordinary citizens. He was, in short, a lot like his country: alternately kind and vicious, brilliant and blind; and a man who fought a lifelong war to keep the republic safe-no matter what it took.

I’ve never been a Jackson fan. His policies would bring about the Trail of Tears, and while he is credited for holding back the southern states’ attempt at codifying their right to secede, he agreed with their right to have slaves. So while dealing with the symptom, he was unwilling to confront the “national sin.” I thought to read this book in order to get a better understanding of the man. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the book for that.

The book basically covers Jackson’s years as president, so what molded his character is left a mystery. The first sixty years of his life are covered in the first fifty pages of the book; even his service during the war of 1812 is glossed over. I wished I’d noticed the small lettering at the bottom of the cover, Andrew Jackson in the White House before I started it.

What I did learn about Jackson didn’t really warm me to him. He comes across as rather selfish, expecting his family (a nephew and the nephew’s wife,) to see to his concerns before their own. For me, his bad qualities far outweighed his good ones.

The book itself is well written. While I don’t agree with Meacham’s assessment of Jackson, I do appreciate his writing.

Bestselling historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist H. W. Brands narrates the fierce debate over America's role in the world in the runup to World War II through its two most important President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who advocated intervention, and his isolationist nemesis, aviator and popular hero Charles Lindbergh.Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 launched a momentous period of decision-making for the United States. With fascism rampant abroad, should America take responsibility for its defeat?

For popular hero Charles Lindbergh, saying no to another world war only twenty years after the first was the obvious answer. Lindbergh had become famous and adored around the world after his historic first flight over the Atlantic in 1927. In the years since, he had emerged as a vocal critic of American involvement overseas, rallying Americans toward isolationism as the nominal head of the America First Committee. As Hitler advanced across Europe and threatened the British Isles, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt struggled to turn the tide of public opinion. With great effort, political shrewdness and outright deception—aided by secret British disinformation efforts in America—FDR readied the country for war. He pushed the US onto the world stage where it has stayed ever since.In this gripping narrative, H.W. Brands sheds light on a crucial tipping point in American history and depicts the making of a legendary president.

What I knew about Lindbergh before reading this book was his flight, the kidnapping and death of his baby son, and that he was a Nazi and an anti-semite. What I learned from this book was, while the first two are true, the last two are somewhat questionable. Lindbergh never praised the Nazi, but apparently he never condemned them, either. As for the Jews, he gave them partial blame for pushing the United States into the war. But he also made it clear that, given what was happening to their people in Europe he really couldn’t blame them.

He comes across as someone who truly believes that the United States should stay out of the war because, hey, we’ll be okay. Forget that all of Europe would be in the hands of a mad man. That’s their problem. Oh, well, we still can trade with South America. It’s hard to imagine someone who had been all over the world could be so naive.

If only the author had been willing to look deeper into FDR’s thoughts (someone who I do know something about.) The impression is that FDR was pushing the United States into war out of some weird power play. Time and again his motives seem somewhat underhanded and suspect. He’s lying about the United States having to fear Germany. That he realized what would happen if Europe was lost to the Nazis is never mentioned. Nor is the fact that when it came to the war, Lindbergh was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Lindbergh pushed his agenda until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Yet he continued to believe that are entering the war was a bad idea. We didn’t need Europe and its problems. It encapsulates a way of thinking that is still strong with Americans. That we don’t need the rest of the world. That we are the best, most wonderful country in the entire history of the world. We’ve come to believe the myth we created at the country’s beginning.

It’s a well written book that, while long, was informative and a surprisingly easy read. I only wish it had been more even-handed.

( Mount TBR 2025 Book Links 1-20 )

21. We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
22. America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War by H.W. Brands

Goodreads 22

From an author “destined to become a titan of the macabre and unsettling” (Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author), a haunting debut—soon to be a Netflix original movie—about two homeowners whose lives are turned upside down when the house’s previous residents unexpectedly visit.

As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?

This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel “is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it” (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).

Such an eerie, terrifying book. It’s been a long time since a horror story was able to creep me out so much that I was hesitant to turn off the lights. What was real and what wasn’t was so intertwined with things that do happen to people that you could easily start to wonder about your own reality.

The story becomes unsettling almost from the start, but slowly turns to horror for Eve. Because of her past, she does things that most people wouldn’t, and soon she’s caught in a maelstrom of terrifying proportions. I guess the main takeaway is never let strangers into your house.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to the book. A lot of what’s going on is never explained. Maybe the author wanted the reader to decide, but without that missing explanations it’s impossible to do so. And just when you decide that, yes, this is what’s going on, the author throws in another red herring.

I’m not counting on it, but a sequel would really help.

( Mount TBR 2025 Book Links 1-20 )

21. We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

Goodreads 21

Adapted as movie/series
1. We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

As Labor Day approaches, four inhabitants of a New Jersey shore town are preoccupied with upcoming changes in their lives, as well as with questions regarding the death of their mutual friend, Julie Etler, in a fire in a horror house on an amusement pier. The questions multiply when one friend, Devin Graham, receives a message on his answering machine from Julie and when another sees her on the beach. Other inexplicable accidents and deaths compel Devin to explore the burned horror house.

The book starts out pretty slow, to the point that I almost gave up on it. I’m glad I didn’t. There’s a creeping horror connected to the old horror house that now sits, burned and abandoned, on the pier. Dread slowly builds, as the four friends confront the evil that has entered their lives.

There are many questioned to be answered, though unfortunately not all are, which is probably the greatest flaw in the book. I want to know why things are happening and why Julie is appearing to her friends. I want to know why the house burned down, and why it has suddenly turned evil.

I did like how the characters’ backgrounds and hopes for the future are intertwined with what is going on. Somehow, who they are is very much a part of that future, just in a way they have no way of knowing.

Mount TBR 2025 Book Links

Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.

1. The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson
2. The Silence of the Girls (Women of Troy #1) by Pat Barker
3. Withered + Sere (Immemorial Year #1) by T.J. Klune
4. The Traitor's Son by Wendy Johnson
5. All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson by Mark Griffin
6. You Like It Darker by Stephen King, Thomas Hayman (Illustrations)
7. The Fireman by Joe Hill
8. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
9. Lark Ascending by Silas House
10. Memorials by Richard Chizmar
11. The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History by Serhii Plokhy
12. Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
13. The Border by Robert McCammon
14. The 2084 Report: An Oral History of the Great Warming by James Lawrence Powell
15. Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
16. All Over the Town by R. F. Delderfield
17. The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA: The Book That Inspired the Dig by John Ashdown-Hill
18. Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Cerulean #2) by T.J. Klune
19. Blood of the Children by Alan Rodgers
20. For Fear of the Night by Charles L. Grant

Goodreads 20

A Ghost Story
1. For Fear of the Night by Charles L. Grant

In the small town of Green Hill, all the children belong to an evil, magical, and entirely secret cult. For generations, every child in Green Hill has belonged to this cult until he reaches puberty. Then all evil, and all memory of evil acts committed, disappears. Only the children know of the ceremonies that take place on moonlit nights and in the caves that lie underneath the town's foundations...

Ben Tompkins has never seen a nicer bunch of people than the ones he met in Green Hill. That’s why he decided to move himself and his son, Jimmy, there when his wife had a horrifying mental breakdown. Ben doesn’t know about the children of Green Hill. But Jimmy is about to discover their terrifying secret…and pay the price for that knowledge.

Maybe not the worst horror story I’ve read, but it comes pretty close. I really could have done without the explicit torture. He especially seemed to have a thing about torturing animals, though the main character goes through so much I don’t really see how he could have survived. I had to skim a lot of that.

All that is too bad, because the premise showed promise. But much of it went unexplained, so the reader is left with some basic questions unanswered. Plus, the characters, the children especially, were pretty two dimensional.

I’ve read other books by this author and enjoyed them. So maybe this being his first novel has something to do with it not being up to par. Fortunately, it’s a fast read.

Frightening Cover
1. Blood of the Children

2025 Monthly Motif.jpg

APR- “Spring Cleaning”

Read a book that’s been on your TBR (to be read) list for two or more years.

Blood of the Children by Alan Rodgers

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is the hugely anticipated sequel to TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, one of the best-loved and best-selling fantasy novels of the past decade. Featuring gorgeous orange sprayed edges!

A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything.

Arthur Parnassus lives a good life built on the ashes of a bad one.

He’s the master of a strange orphanage on a distant and peculiar island, and he hopes to soon be the adoptive father to the six dangerous and magical children who live there.

Arthur works hard and loves with his whole heart so none of the children ever feel the neglect and pain that he once felt as an orphan on that very same island so long ago. He is not alone: joining him is the love of his life, Linus Baker, a former caseworker in the Department In Charge of Magical Youth. And there’s the island’s sprite, Zoe Chapelwhite, and her girlfriend, Mayor Helen Webb. Together, they will do anything to protect the children.

But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself at the helm of a fight for the future that his family, and all magical people, deserve.

And when a new magical child hopes to join them on their island home—one who finds power in calling himself monster, a name that Arthur worked so hard to protect his children from—Arthur knows they’re at a breaking point: their family will either grow stronger than ever or fall apart.

Welcome back to Marsyas Island. This is Arthur’s story.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea is a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it.

I wish I could say I loved this book as much as I did the previous one, but I can’t. Maybe because, oddly enough, I found the characters less real this time around. Arthur and Linus are constantly going on about how much they love each other, which is fine every once in a while but not all the time. And I found the children’s passages a bit too saccharine, as if Klune doesn’t know any children to base them on (though he hit it more on the mark in the first book.) Not to belabor the point, but he might try reading some King to see how it’s done.

I did enjoy a lot of the book, mostly when Arthur was interacting with the people of the village. They added some realism. I wish they had had larger roles since learning to live in the rest of the world seemed to be a major issue.

And I was somewhat disappointed with the ending. I kept waiting for a real crisis but things came to a head very quickly and the ending was rather flat. As much as Klune belabored how the people from DICOMY were terrible people who didn’t accept those who were different, their role is actually quite small.

Still, I enjoyed returning to Marsyas Island, warts and all.

The Last Days of Richard III contains a new and uniquely detailed exploration of Richard’s last 150 days. By deliberately avoiding the hindsight knowledge that he will lose the Battle of Bosworth Field, we discover a new Richard: no passive victim, awaiting defeat and death, but a king actively pursuing his own agenda.

It also re-examines the aftermath of Bosworth: the treatment of Richard’s body; his burial; and the construction of his tomb. And there is the fascinating story of why, and how, Richard III’s family tree was traced until a relative was found, alive and well, in Canada.

Now, with the discovery of Richard’s skeleton at the Greyfrairs Priory in Leicester, England, John Ashdown-Hill explains how his book inspired the dig and completes Richard III’s fascinating story, giving details of how Richard died, and how the DNA link to a living relative of the king allowed the royal body to be identified.

The book is a deep dive into how Richard saw his place, and the rebellions against him. He’s seen here, not so much as a tragic figure, but of someone who believed in what he was doing, but who, unfortunately, suffered the fate of all disposed English kings. We get a second look at what happened right after the battle and in the days leading up to his burial and beyond.

There’s also the search for his family’s descendants and the find that would be the linchpin in proving that the bones found under the carpark were, indeed, those of Richard III. That a direct mtDNA existed was a truly lucky break.

It’s an interesting read, even for someone who has read extensively about the man. My only problem was with the small print, which made reading the book a bit of a chore.

APR – Rest, Days, Upstairs, Sing, Shell, Starlight, Life, Couple

The Last Days of Richard III and the Fate of His DNA: The Book That Inspired the Dig by John Ashdown-Hill

In this remarkable and brilliantly readable novel, R. F. Delderfield confronts the hypocrisy and corruption of the small English seaside town of Sandcombe in the aftermath of the Second World War.

At the center of the novel is Nat Hearn, who comes back from the war and an RAF commission to resume his old job as assistant editor and chief scapegoat of the local newspaper, and who proceeds to change the paper into a crusading weapon against injustice and old-fogeyism, and turn the sleepy town of Sandcombe upside down.

Delderfield takes the lid off small-town lief with a relish born of experience, and with the sense of drama and humor that have made every one of his novels a success.

The book starts show, as we are introduced to Nat and his fellow workers at the local newspaper. Time seems to go along, not much happening, to the point that Nat seriously thinks of leaving town. But then there’s a dramatic turn of events, and everything changes.

It’s at this point where the story shines. Circumstances force Nat, as well as his fellow town members, to take a good hard look at what exactly is going on in their town and to pick sides.

Written in 1947, it’s amazing how little has changed over the last eighty year. Those who crave money and power are still trying to hide what they’re doing; those whose lives will be altered by it still often remain ignorant as to what’s going on. But one person can make a difference. It’s often sheer luck that that person is there to do so.

A good solid book that I found well worth reading.

MAR – Deep, Clever, Sand, Little, Happy, Date, Guest, Over

All Over the Town by R. F. Delderfield

A fresh take on the story of Medusa, the original monstered woman.

They will fear you and flee you and call you a monster.

The only mortal in a family of gods, Medusa is the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. Unlike her siblings, Medusa grows older, experiences change, feels weakness. Her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know.

When the sea god Poseidon assaults Medusa in Athene's temple, the goddess is enraged. Furious by the violation of her sacred space, Athene takes revenge--on the young woman. Punished for Poseidon's actions, Medusa is forever transformed. Writhing snakes replace her hair and her gaze will turn any living creature to stone. Cursed with the power to destroy all she loves with one look, Medusa condemns herself to a life of solitude.

Until Perseus embarks upon a fateful quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon...

In Stone Blind, classicist and comedian Natalie Haynes turns our understanding of this legendary myth on its head, bringing empathy and nuance to one of the earliest stories in which a woman--injured by a powerful man--is blamed, punished, and monstered for the assault. Delving into the origins of this mythic tale, Haynes revitalizes and reconstructs Medusa's story with her passion and fierce wit, offering a timely retelling of this classic myth that speaks to us today.

I seem to be on a roller coaster ride with these reimagined Greek myths. Some are excellent. Others not so much. This one is in the second column.

Probably the biggest problem is that the character of Perseus is twisted totally out of shape, so that he bears no resemblance to that of the Perseus of the myths. The same is done to Medusa, but in a way that the original story still fits. Well, somewhat.

That said, I really came to care for this Medusa, making her ultimate fate that much sadder. She is a victim of fate in the harsh hands of the gods. Which makes the author’s use of humor rather glaring.

I’ve read and enjoyed other books by this author, so this one may be something of an outlier. I hope that’s the case.

This vivid, terrifying, and galvanizing novel reveals our future world after previous generations failed to halt climate change—perfect for fans of The Drowned World and World War Z.

2084: Global warming has proven worse than even the direst predictions scientists had made at the turn of the century. No country—and no one—has remained unscathed. Through interviews with scientists, political leaders, and citizens around the globe, this riveting oral history describes in graphic detail the irreversible effects the Great Warming has had on humankind and the planet.

In short chapters about topics like sea level rise, drought, migration, war, and more, The 2084 Report brings global warming to life, revealing a new reality in which Rotterdam doesn’t exist, Phoenix has no electricity, and Canada is part of the United States. From wars over limited resources to the en masse migrations of entire countries and the rising suicide rate, the characters describe other issues they are confronting in the world they share with the next two generations. Simultaneously fascinating and frightening, The 2084 Report will inspire you to start conversations and take action.

I wasn’t as taken with the book as I thought I would be. It’s a great idea, but not well done. A big problem is the way the book is set up. The chapters are interviews with different people, yet they all sound pretty much the same. So, though the subjects are different, it could well be the same person speaking. I think it would have worked better if each chapter had been written as a story of what a certain person was going through, rather than them describing a certain situation.

And for me, the last chapter sounded too much like preaching, as nuclear power seemed to be the author’s choice in saving the planet. Could very well have been (like all other solutions, it’s a little late,) but not every “con” was covered. And the idea of maybe doing something about the size of the population was never addressed.

Still, there were some interesting scenarios as to what we can very likely look forward to. Sort of unnerving was the author having the United States taking over Canada. What was done to Mexico in regards to Texas (“settling” someone else’s land and then stealing it,) could be the playbook used with Canada.

MAR- “It’s All Geek to Me” Read a book where technology, science, math, or engineering plays an important role in the story.

The 2084 Report: An Oral History of the Great Warming by James Lawrence Powell

World Fantasy award-winning, bestselling author Robert McCammon makes a triumphant return to the epic horror and apocalyptic tone reminiscent of his books Swan Song and Stinger in this gripping new novel, The Border, a saga of an Earth devastated by a war between two marauding alien civilizations.

But it is not just the living ships of the monstrous Gorgons or the motion-blurred shock troops of the armored Cyphers that endanger the holdouts in the human bastion of Panther Ridge. The world itself has turned against the handful of survivors, as one by one they succumb to despair and suicide or, even worse, are transformed by otherworldly pollution into hideous Gray Men, cannibalistic mutants driven by insatiable hunger. Into these desperate circumstances comes an amnesiac teenaged boy who names himself Ethan—a boy who must overcome mistrust and suspicion to master unknowable powers that may prove to be the last hope for humanity's salvation. Those same powers make Ethan a threat to the warring aliens, long used to fearing only each other, and thrust him and his comrades into ever more perilous circumstances.

A major new novel from the unparalleled imagination of Robert McCammon, this dark epic of survival will both thrill readers and make them fall in love with his work all over again.

I love McCammon’s work. Whether historical fiction, science fiction, or horror, he always brings his worlds to life. This one, a blend of horror and sci-fi, is no exception. The plot, though not his first foray into a post-apocalyptic saga, is still imaginative and leads the reader into surprising twists and turns. But even more compelling are the characters; in that regard, McCammon is up their with King.

There is Dave McKane, a rough and taciturn man who hides a tender persona; John Douglas, or JayDee as he’s affectionately known, doing the best he can to doctor those injured, both physically and emotionally; Olivia Quintero, a strong woman who holds their fortress together. But best of all is Ethan, a young boy who doesn’t remember who he is, and wonders what he is. There are others, both good and bad (though even the bad ones had some good,) who move our small band of heroes forward to their ultimate destination.

There were clues as the ending drew nearer, yet it was (almost) a perfect surprise. I read the book almost ten years ago, so much of it was like reading it for the first time.