April 2022 – Looking For a Good Book

April 29, 2022

SWASHBUCKLERS – Dan Hanks

The literary equivalent to the Hollywood ‘B’ movie would probably be the pulps, or ‘pulp fiction.’ We don’t see a lot of pulp fiction today, but I’d say that author Dan Hanks is still writing in the pulp fiction style. In Swashbucklers, our hero is Cisco Collins. And ‘hero’ is the correct term. As a child, Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, pulp fiction, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

April 27, 2022

SLEWFOOT: A TALE OF BEWITCHERY – Brom

Oof, this was good. Have you ever wondered why, during the Salem witchcraft trials era, if the women accused of being witches really were witches, they didn’t perform some sort of magic to survive? I’m thinking author Brom may have wondered this. Abigail is an innocent and energetic young English girl, sold by her father Continue reading

Dark Fantasy/Horror, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Mythology/Legend, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

April 25, 2022

TALUS AND THE FROZEN KING – Graham Edwards

Talus, a bard, and his companion Bran, make a journey to the island realm of Creyak. A king has been murdered and there are no shortages of suspects, including the king’s six sons, the local shaman, the servant girl, or even a neighboring warlord. Talus, who is clever and insightful, will study the clues and investigate, Continue reading

MYSTERY, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

2 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

April 21, 2022

LOCKLANDS – Robert Jackson Bennett

I’ve used the term ‘epic fantasy’ to refer to a style or genre of fantasy before, but Robert Jackson Bennett’s Lockland, the conclusions to his The Founders Trilogy, is truly epic in style and heart – not just as a genre description. Note that you won’t want to read this as a stand-alone novel. It requires Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

April 19, 2022

THE VIKING HEART – Arthur Herman

Arthur Herman’s The Viking Heart is a history book … well, no, it’s a sociology study … er, it’s a personal memoir … or, rather, it’s … it’s a little bit of everything. Including flawed. The subtitle, How Scandinavians Conquered the World, is meant to be quite broad. We don’t realize this at first, reading through the early Continue reading

NON-FICTION

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, History, non-fiction, Reviews

April 15, 2022

SOUND MAN – Glyn Johns

When you are one of the most influential sound engineers/music producers ever, it would be difficult to write a biography or memoir without a whole heck of a lot of name-dropping … as evidenced by Glyn Johns’ memoir, Sound Man. Seriously … Johns worked with groups like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Steve Miller Continue reading

MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, Memoir, Music, non-fiction, Reviews

April 13, 2022

SPELUNKING THROUGH HELL – Seanan McGuire

I’ve read a lot of Seanan McGuire’s books (under her name and under the name Mira Grant) and I’ve really liked most of them, but the InCryptid series is possibly my favorite, and this particular book really turns up the heat. This is Alice’s story. Alice Price-Healy once fell in love with a man named Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

April 11, 2022

THE LETTERS OF SHIRLEY JACKSON

Wow. This is a really remarkable book. In so many ways, reading these vast collection of letters – both personal (to her boyfriend [later her husband] and to her parents) and professional (to her agent and to publishers) – is a better autobiography than if she’d sat down to write specifically about her life. We Continue reading

MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Memoir, non-fiction, Reviews, writing

April 7, 2022

QUESTLAND – Carrie Vaughn

Dr. Addie Cox is a literature professor – very happy with her job and the assumption that she is making a mark on impressionable young minds. It’s a comfortable life and she’s happy with it. Then her status quo changes when Harris Lang, a billionaire tech genius offers her a job. Lang owns an island Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Games, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

April 5, 2022

QUIET NEIGHBORS – Catriona McPherson

Ooooooh. What should be one of the best, dark reads on my shelf turns out to be one of the dullest. Jude needs a safe haven. She remembers finding some dusty old treasures in the oldest bookstore in a town full of old bookstores; Lowland Glen Books. This seems as good a place as any Continue reading

MYSTERY, Uncategorized

2 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, cozi, Mystery, Reviews

April 1, 2022

ALL THE HORSES IN ICELAND – Sarah Tolmie

Sarah Tolmie’s All the Horses of Iceland is beautifully poetic novella which, like the Edda‘s and the Heimskringla by Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson, lays forth the story behind a national legend. For Tolmie, that’s the story of all the horses of Iceland. And like all good legends, there’s magic and the supernatural, there’s good and evil, and there’s a wanderer Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, SHORT FICTION, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy