Weyward by Emilia Hart

August 4, 2025

Weyward by Emilia Hart

Kate flees from her abusive partner to a cottage she inherited from her great aunt Violet, who lived there from the 1940s until her death. While living there, Kate finds writings from a woman named Altha, an earlier ancestor who was tried as a witch in the 17th century.

This book should come with a warning, several actually. Plenty of sensitive subjects and triggers including domestic abuse, animal abuse, violence against women, rape and sexual assault, obsession, humiliation, pregnancy termination, and violence in general, so reader, be warned. Three interconnected stories set in different times. I was much more interested in Altha and Violet's stories that in Kate. I've read enough variations of Kate's story to be over it. Yeah, men suck and they've been treating women like shit since time began. It was hard to read a whole book where there is one good male characters (Graham, Violet's brother) and only two women characters who haven't been abused by men (Kate's mother and her friend Emily). Also, magical realism is just not my thing. It does have a beautiful cover.

Weyward was the original form of weird, as in the Weird Sisters or witches in Macbeth. The first editions of Macbeth used weyward instead of weird.

North Woods by Daniel Mason

June 25, 2025

North Woods by Daniel Mason

In the 18th century, a young couple flee from a Puritan village, and build a small cabin in the woods. Over the next few centuries, a variety of people call it home across the cycles of time, history, and nature.

Humans come and go, nature is forever. Lovely book, the story of a house and the surrounding land and the people who called it home. If someone asked me what the book is about, I would have a hard time explaining it. The narrative is a blend of stories, poems and songs, letters, news stories - some sections are more compelling than others. I loved the author’s two previous books so I wasn’t surprised to be sucked in immediately by this one. I recommend the audiobook, which has a full cast reading the various sections. Recommended for its beautiful writing to readers of literary fiction, although readers who prefer a more straightforward plot will probably not enjoy it.

An 18th century Massachusetts farmhouse

The Nightingale's Castle by Sonia Velton

August 24, 2024

The Nightingale's Castle by Sonia Velton

A young girl named Boroka is sent to work at the castle of Countess Erzsebet Bathory, one of the wealthiest and most influential women in Hungary. The countess employs dozens of women and girls as seamstresses, laundresses, and kitchen help, as well as running a school for the education of daughters of the gentility. But before long, Boroka begins to notice that an unusually large number of girls are falling ill of a mysterious illness.

Known as the Blood Countess, Erzsebet Bathory is believed to have lured young women to her castle to murder them in order to bathe in their blood. But she may have received a bad rap, since the accusations against her may have been an attempt to bring down her politically powerful family and destroy their influence. Legends about her evil deeds were recorded long after her death through oral tradition passed down by locals. Vlad the Impaler was accused of some of the same misdeeds as the countess. A well-researched novel about a lesser known historical figure.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Erzsebeth Bathory, the Blood Countess - this is the portrait that is featured in the story

We Are the Light by Matthew Quick

April 8, 2024

We Are the Light by Matthew Quick

Lucas Goodgame is viewed as a hero by everyone who lives in his small town, except himself. His murdered wife Darcy visits him nightly in angel form. Lucas desperately wants to reconnect with his therapist Karl, but Karl is also in mourning. So Lucas begins to write letters to Karl, detailing his suffering as well as his nightly communications with Darcy. But then a damaged young man named Eli sets up a tent in his backyard, and they begin to heal each other and the town. 

Not an easy read since it deals with a story taken from daily news headlines. Those killed in a mass shooting aren't the only victims - how do the survivors and witnesses pick up their lives and go on? Themes of grief, trauma, anger, and ultimately love and healing in its many forms. Less about the shooting than it is about the aftermath.

Classic restored movie theater

Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

April 16, 2023

Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

Luz Lopez and her brother Diego live in 1934 Denver with their aunt. Denver proves to be a dangerous place for both of them, and for all non-whites and mixed race people. Diego is caught with a white girl and forced to leave town to become a migrant worker. After working as a laundress with her cousin for several years, a local lawyer hires Luz as his clerk. Luz frequently has prophetic visions and reads tea leaves to make extra money while dreaming of a better future for herself. She catches the attention of a local handyman who is an aspiring musician, while also fending off the advances of her boss. Luz tries to navigate the confusing time and place where she lives, while waiting for her brother to return home.

A slow moving saga following five generations of a family, moving back and forth from late 18th century American West (aka the Lost Territory) and 1934 Denver. It could have used a little more plot, a little less wandering around and fewer characters. Too many wandering threads that only sort of come together at the end. I expected a better story.

The main drag in 1935 Denver

Daughter of Black Lake by Cathy Marie Buchanan

March 29, 2023

Daughter of Black Lake by Cathy Marie Buchanan

Set in Roman Britain, Hobble and her family are bog dwellers, living in a remote settlement. Called Hobble because she was born with a lame leg, Hobble has prophetic visions that are sometimes disturbing. Life revolves around the seasons of the year and respect for nature. When a Druid priest named Fox comes to their village ordering them to join a rebellion against the Roman occupiers, their family, their community and their way of life are threatened.

Historical fiction with elements of magical realism. The historical research and storyline are interesting until the last few chapters, where one of the main characters reveals her "mystical" pregnancy, then it just gets silly. I read Buchanan's previous novel The Painted Girls and enjoyed it, but this one left me wanting. Just average.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Ruins of Roman Britain - even the characters who hate the Romans admit they were damned good road builders

Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore

November 11, 2022

Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore

Ten years ago, famous magician Violet Volk disappeared in the middle of her stage act. Violet always had magic tricks that seem beyond rational explanation, even to other magicians. No one has seen or heard from her in ten years, not even her sister Sasha, although rumors of Violet sightings run wild on the Internet, creating a cult of Violet fanatics. Unlike her sister, Sasha has led a quiet life in their hometown of Willow Glen, NJ, with a husband, daughter and business. To protect her family, Sasha tries to avoid all the misinformation about Violet. But now the ten-year anniversary of her vanishing is approaching, and the uproar is increasing to new levels, with a podcast series in addition to the annual vigil. As Violet mania intensifies, Sasha begins to wonder if she is losing her mind.

This started out as a decent missing persons story, and I would have been happier if it had stayed that way without the magical realism slant. Although some readers may find it annoying, I liked the combination of narrative mixed with podcasts, emails, and interviews - it worked quite well in the audio format and reflects how we get information in the 21st century. Sasha also talks about the horrible things that people do today, like throwing a Molotov cocktail through the window of her business because someone didn't think she was grieving properly (again, a reflection of the times we live in).

But then the ending just falls flat. Instead of finding out what happened to Violet, the reader is led to believe that she transported to some higher plane or alternate universe, and that maybe Sasha wants to go there, too. This is the second book by Montimore that I've read - the first one was disappointing, but I decided to give her another try. This one was disappointing too. It's like she gets her characters into a situation and then can't figure out how to get them out, without "magic."

A female magician with her male assistant - there are plenty of female magicians out there

The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang

October 20, 2022

The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang

Nora Wilder disappeared five years ago, and her two daughters, Zadie and Finn, have no idea why or where she went. Both sisters have a sixth sense: Zadie is a psychic and Finn is able to enter other people's memories and dreams. They wonder if maybe their mother had a sixth sense too, and if it had something to do with why she left. Shortly after Finn's high school graduation, the sisters plan to take a beach vacation in Galveston. But when Finn finds herself in a memory that can only belong to her mother, they decide instead that they need to go search for Nora.

DNF. I have the feeling that the author thought up a cool title and decided to write a book around it. I'm not really a fan of magical realism, and if I had known that was the major theme, I would not have requested this title from NetGalley. I usually enjoy books about missing persons but I didn't connect with the characters at all - too much crap about boyfriends and stuff like Psychic Karaoke. Also, the author's wandering style didn't appeal to me either. Maybe younger readers will like it better, or if you're a fan of magical realism like Alice Hoffman, you'll probably like this book a lot more than I did.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for providing an eARC.

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

December 22, 2021

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

Following the death of his father, Benny Oh begins to hear voices. Not just any voices - he hears items like a shoe, vegetables, furniture, and Christmas decorations speaking to him. His depressed mother develops hoarding tendencies, which doesn't help Benny's situation. He finds solace in the quiet of a large public library, where the books speak to him but in an orderly fashion, and he meets a variety of street people who also take refuge there. 

Although I liked the story and it held my attention, it's very difficult to categorize or describe. The narrator is a book that tells Benny's story. As a librarian at a public library for 30 years, I recognized many of the characters that Benny encounters at his public library. Libraries are safe havens for many people who otherwise don't fit in or have nowhere else to go. Books and libraries can save us by finding a way out of our own heads - I have always known this. It's also about how we fill our emptiness. Some people fill their emptiness with alcohol or drugs or excitement; others lean toward books, art, and objects.

I really like the author's previous book, A Tale for the Time Being. Ozeki tends to write in an experimental style. While this isn't for everyone, readers of literary fiction will find a lot to think about.

Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan

 July 24, 2020

Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan

Tilda and her mother Grace were never close.  Tilda always suspected it was because she inherited an ability to see the dead from her father, a trait that her mother detested.  After her father’s death, the best thing to happen to Tilda was moving into Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel in Brighton, where Tilda found a second mother in Queenie and a family in the quirky group of employees and guests at the hotel.  But shortly after their move, Grace inexplicably shipped Tilda off to a remote boarding school, wrenching her away from the only real home she had ever known.  After Grace’s death over 40 years later, Tilda fears that she has inherited not only her father’s psychic ability, but also her mother’s mental illness.  She is desperate for answers, and with her faithful canine companion Eli by her side, Tilda returns to Brighton to search for answers about their lives, why her mother always seemed to be punishing her, and what really happened to her father.

My sciatica was acting up yesterday, so I spent most of the day lying down on a heating pad, reading.  I was fortunate to have Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel checked out from the library.  I fell in love with Queenie and her hotel at the first description.  Brighton in the 1970’s sounds like a child’s paradise.  There is a slight supernatural element in Tilda’s ability to see those who are no longer living – she can’t always distinguish between the living and the dead.  Things aren’t always the way you think they are (especially when you’re a child) and the plotline has a number of unexpected developments.  But children also accept some things without question, while adults might be put off or make judgments.

Eli the dog is a wonderful character, and yes, he is fine and living with Tilda at the end of the book.  Queenie also is a marvelous flamboyant character, but she makes only sporadic appearances until the middle of the book.

Although the story has a dark side and there are complex issues here, I found Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel to be a delightful and engaging read.  I finished the novel in a day, and I highly recommend it if you enjoy quirky fiction.

Things You Would Know if You Grew Up Around Here by Nancy Wayson Dinan

May 27, 2020

Things You Would Know if You Grew Up Around Here – Nancy Wayson Dinan

Texas, May 2015 – in the hill country of east Texas, three women head out into the aftermath of a hurricane and flood, searching for lost loved ones.  Boyd searches for her best friend Isaac; Boyd’s parents Lucy Maud and Kevin search for Boyd and Isaac; Carla, a transplant from Austin, searches for Lucy Maud and Boyd, as well as a sense of belonging, something she has missed all her life.

This one fell a little flat for me.  The characters make a lot of stupid decisions (but as I've told other librarians, if the characters didn't do dumb things, most novels would be three pages long).  The writing is beautiful and the descriptions are lush, and most of the characters are well-fleshed out.  My issue is with the lack of plot and resolution.  At least two characters are introduced and figure in the novel for long sections but don't serve a purpose.  But these are the hallmarks of literary fiction, and fans of literary fiction will love this.

I'm back to work at the library so I will start getting more bestsellers rather than advanced reader copies.  Up until we were ordered back to work by the City of Chicago ten days ago, I haven't been concerned about contracting COVID-19.  I followed the city and state's guidelines:  stayed home as much as possible, isolated from family and friends, only went out when I absolutely needed to, and always wore a mask when outside my own house and yard.  Now I am taking public transportation to work, and the city is planning to throw open the library's doors one day next week.  There are very few safety regulations in place:  we have no plexiglas shields or face shields, no barriers of any kind to keep patrons back from the staff.  A lot of the responsibility will fall on our security staff, who are already stretched thin, and will now be responsible for checking that patrons are wearing masks, that there aren't too many patrons sitting in an area, and that they don't stay in the building longer than they are supposed to.  It's an impossible task for security.

A library is different from other businesses, like a restaurant, a retail store, a nail or hair salon, or an office - all of those organizations can restrict who comes into their place of business.  They can tell a person who is dirty or appears to be sick that they have to leave.  Libraries don't have that luxury - we are open to the dirtiest, smelliest people in the city.  All a homeless person will have to do to enter the library building is pull his t-shirt up over his face until he is past the guard station and in the building.  People dump their kids at the library when they go to work.  Lori Lightfoot, the mayor of Chicago, has closed the beaches, parks and jogging paths but she is hell-bent on reopening the library ASAP - she has more concern for the health of joggers and bikers than she does for library patrons and staff.  I know who I'm not voting for next mayoral election!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in return for a review.

 

The Library of Legends by Janie Chang

May 24, 2020

The Library of Legends by Janie Chang

When the Japanese begin bombing the city of Nanking in China, the faculty at Minghua University organize an evacuation to move the students to China's western province, taking the school's prized Library of Legends with them.  Halfway through the journey, the three main characters (Shao, son of a wealthy family; Lian, a scholarship student; and Sparrow, a maidservant) split off from the student group to travel to Shanghai, each for their own reasons.

Overall, I was disappointed in this book.  Usually I really like historical fiction about lesser known historical events, in this case, the second Sino-Japanese War and China's historic Library of Legends.  But too much time was spent on flirtations and political groups within the students, and too little time was spent on the library itself.  There is also a magical realism factor where one of the characters is actually a character from one of the legends who has been living on earth for thousands of years.  The author also devotes many pages to describing how wealthy and influential Shao's family is, also how elegant and expensive his clothes are, and how much poverty there is in large Chinese cities (yes, we get it, there is a huge gap between rich and poor in China just like there is in the West).  There are also too many pages of walking and bombing and hiding, and spending the night at a temple, then a monastery, then a village, then another temple, then a warehouse, then another village, etc.  A good editor should have whacked out about 100 pages and made this a much better book.  However, the cover art is gorgeous.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in return for a review.

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

January 30, 2020

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

Loosely based on the author’s life growing up in Queensland in Australia, this is a story of coming-of-age meets survival.  Eli Bell and his older brother August live with their mother Frances and her boyfriend Lyle, both heroin dealers, in the suburb of Darra outside Brisbane in Queensland, Australia.  August is mute following a childhood trauma, while Eli searches for what it takes to be a good man.  Lyle is the only father figure that Eli remembers, and he loves Lyle deeply and wants to believe that Lyle is a good man, despite his profession. But unexpected events force Eli out of childhood, as he attempts to navigate a world of crime, drugs, and domestic abuse.

Normally I don’t care for books with juvenile narrators since the point of view is usually pretty narrow, but Trent Dalton has written a pair of very engaging characters in Eli Bell and his brother August.  Eli's voice is full of poetry and unexpected humor, a combination of adolescent adventure and adult experiences.  Most of the characters are based on people that Dalton knew as a child - I did love the inclusion of Arthur “Slim” Halliday, an actual criminal best known for his jail escapes, who Dalton knew when he was a child.  However, I don’t think the episodes of magical realism added anything to the narrative, and the last 50 pages of the book stretch the reader’s belief a little too far.  Other than that, the first 400 pages of the book are a wonderful read, not always pleasant or happy, but always heartfelt.

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino

January 22, 2020

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino

After committing a robbery and having their getaway car break down, three amateur criminals hide out in an abandoned general store. To their surprise, envelopes begin dropping through the mail slot, most of them stating a problem and requesting advice, but some thanking the store owner for advice given in the past.  The three wannabe crooks decide to answer the letters, first as a joke, and then in an earnest attempt to actually be of some help.

The plot (if you can call it a plot) focuses on an old fashioned general store that has been closed for decades, and a nearby orphanage that all of the characters are connected to in some way.  The store exists in a kind of time warp – inside the store, it’s 30 years in the past, while time outside the store runs normally.  Rather than a straightforward novel format, the story consists of a series of inter-connected vignettes, often transitioning to another character's story with little or no explanation.  It’s a quick read and overall optimistic with a certain charm, but a lot of it felt like the author wanted to write about some of his favorite things, like the Beatles.  One of my complaints is that there is no real ending – the reader ends up with the three guys sitting around the general store looking at each other with their eyes twinkling – what is that supposed to mean?  I understand that the author is a well-known mystery writer in Japan, and that this is his first effort outside the mystery genre.  Maybe it was the translation that made it seem clunky.  

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

October 30, 2019

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

Okay, so, how often do you find a book that deals with spontaneous human combustion?  With humor, compassion, and love?  I’d say just about never, until now.

Lillian Breaker is working a dead-end job in her home town, when she gets a frantic letter from her former roommate pleading for her help.  Lillian’s dreams of a better life for herself were cut short when her roomie Madison got caught with drugs at their exclusive high school, and Madison’s father paid off Lillian’s mother to get Lillian to take the rap for Madison.  Lillian was expelled and her mother spent the money on cigarettes, booze, and partying.

Fifteen years later, Madison Billings Roberts is married to a much older man, a U.S. senator, and they live on a palatial estate with their son Timothy.  But Senator Roberts has two children from his first marriage, Roland and Bessie, who (to say the least) have special needs:  if they get upset, they spontaneously burst into flames.  And these are two angry kids.  Madison and the senator need a nanny to look after the children in a special guest house on the estate, away from the main house since there is no predicting when these incidents might occur.  What if there were witnesses!  Imagine the negative publicity!  What if they burn the house down!  Think of what would happen to the Roberts’ perfect image!  The senator’s career would be down the tubes!

Lillian is the only person that Madison trusts enough with her secret.  The salary that Madison is offering is really good, too, so Lillian takes on the job of looking after the two near-feral children.  Their mother was paranoid, so the twins were home-schooled and rarely left the house.  Since the mother’s death, they’ve been living with their maternal grandparents who are being paid to “look after” the kids (and they have a really loose interpretation of “look after”).  The first time she meets the twins, despite coming away bleeding and half-drowned, Lillian unexpectedly connects with them and she resolves to try to make their lives better and help them learn to deal with and control their affliction. 

Lillian herself is damaged, since she had a neglected childhood without a father, and a mother who brought home boyfriend after boyfriend; after the drug incident, Lillian’s life spontaneously combusted.  She appears to be the first person who ever really takes an interest in the twins, even if she is being paid to look after them.

There are themes of friendship, forgiveness, disability, family, loss, and unexpected love.  And yet it is an uplifting feel-good book.  You can substitute any disability for “spontaneous human combustion” and the reaction of adults would be the same:  embarrassment, shame, “what will people think,” “this didn’t come from my side of the family,” focusing on the disability rather than the kids’ happiness.  The children’s propensity to burst into flames is a metaphor for all of the havoc of raising children:  the teenager who has a tantrum in public, the pre-schooler who gets mad at his parents and knocks all the booze bottles off the sideboard at a party, the adolescent who wants to be a super-hero and decides to jump off the school roof.  Spontaneous human combustion in the novel is just an exaggerated form of acting-out.

This is a very enjoyable read and is sure to appeal to anyone who likes quirky characters and unusual situations, and it has great cover art.  

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.