April 2021 – Looking For a Good Book

April 30, 2021

WITHIN WITHOUT – Jeff Noon

If you’ve read any of my other reviews of Jeff Noon’s John Nyquist series, you already know that these books are really unlike anything else. John Nyquist is a detective who takes on the oddest jobs – or the oddest jobs find him. In either case, Nyquist goes to the most unusual, mind-bending, confusing communities Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, SF/Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

April 28, 2021

THANKSGIVING – Ellen Cooney

Ellen Cooney’s Thanksgiving follows one family through 350 years of Thanksgiving preparations. One family, one house, one room, one meal. Cooney’s book connects generations, shares family joys and sorrows and as family items and heirlooms are handed down and sometimes lost, reminds us what is important in life. I have to admit that the first time I Continue reading

OTHER, Uncategorized

4 stars, ChickLit, Literature

April 26, 2021

THE HOUSE OF THE SETTING SUN – Nancy Cole Silverman

It’s almost never good news when the telephone rings in the middle of the night. And when you are Misty Dawn, once the ‘Hollywood Psychic to the Stars,’ you can be pretty sure that a midnight phone call will be a call for help. Former client, and actress, Dorine Witherspoon, is in town on tour Continue reading

MYSTERY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Mystery

April 23, 2021

THIEF’S MAGIC – Trudi Canavan

I once thought that I enjoyed reading epic fantasies – you know books with characters (like sorcerer, priests, and thieves) and storylines that could be pulled from a game of Dungeons and Dragons. But the more I read the more I find them seeming all too much the same, as if they were, well, characters Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

3 Stars, SF/Fantasy, YA

April 21, 2021

SOUL’D OUT – G.E. Butler

Beatrice Ball loves to sing. She loves it more than anything. When she’s not singing she feels empty at best and, because it means dealing with her controlling mother, angry at worst. Beatrice begins to sneak out at night in order to sing incognito. But one night something happens and she wakes up in a Continue reading

OTHER, Uncategorized

1 Star, Music

April 19, 2021

THE HUMMINGBIRD HANDBOOK – John Shewey

Hummingbirds. Is there any other species of bird that so immediately conjures up images of shimmery colors and blurry wings? Author John Shewey provides a rather thorough look at the group of birds known as hummingbirds, as well as looking at the individual groups of hummingbirds. This is a coffee-table-style book, meaning that it is Continue reading

NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

4 stars, Birds, Nature, non-fiction, Photography

April 16, 2021

A KILLING FROST – Seanan McGuire

Ah, “An October Daye Novel.” This is a sweet elixir to fans of urban fantasy. October (Toby) is finally planning her wedding to Tybalt, King of Cats, after a long engagement period. But Toby discovers that there is an archaic tradition in Fairie wedding ceremonies that states that the father of the bride must be Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

4 stars, science fiction, SF/Fantasy

April 14, 2021

ROMULUS BUCKLE & THE ENGINES OF WAR – Richard Ellis Preston, Jr.

Swashbuckling steampunk. That’s Romulus Buckle. Romulus Buckle is the captain of a zeppelin which is soaring over the frozen wasteland known as Southern California, where warring clans battle one another for precious supplies. Buckle has worked hard to bring about an alliance between the clans in order put an end to the fighter. But that Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, science fiction, YA

April 12, 2021

1973: ROCK AT THE CROSSROADS – Andrew Grant Jackson

One of my children is very much interested in music and, because I listened to a lot of what we now call ‘classic rock’, he is also quite fond of this music period. We’ve talked about it quite often and how I always felt that there was a real strength of music and musicians in Continue reading

NON-FICTION

5 Stars, History, Music, non-fiction

April 9, 2021

THE CONSEQUENCES OF FEAR – Jacqueline Winspear

Freddie Hackett is a message runner for a government office in London in 1941. The job is not without its dangers given the German bombings, but what Freddie didn’t expect was to see was an argument ending in murder down at the docks. An air raid delays Freddie, but when he gets to the delivery Continue reading

HISTORICAL FICTION, MYSTERY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Historical Fiction, Mystery

April 7, 2021

SWINGS – Corbin Lewars

Sadie Walker is trying to fit in. She’s a new mother and she’s looking for a mother and child group so that she can have conversation with adults. But Sadie isn’t your typical sweet mother. She’s been un-invited to some of the groups for eating non-organic foods in group, and maybe swearing now and then. Continue reading

ROMANCE

2 Stars, Romance, Sex

April 5, 2021

THE FORBIDDEN STARS – Tim Pratt

Humanity was given access to a greater section of the universe when an alien race gave us access to 29 wormholes, bringing humans to twenty-nine new star systems. What the alien race never mentioned was that another race of beings, now known as the Axiom, controlled every other system in the galaxy. The Axiom are Continue reading

SF/FANTASY

4 stars, science fiction