The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year (Carter)

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year
Ally Carter (2024)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a Pandemic Book Club book. It came available from the library about 3 days after I finally bought a copy of it. As it was, I didn't finish it in time for the book club meeting, but that was pushed back a week, so I haven't missed it yet. I'll update with reactions.

The book deconstructs mystery writing when a writer and her "nemesis" are suddenly invited to an event for Christmas and flown to England without a clue where they are going. Maggie Chase is a successful writer who has a horrible life -- her ex-husband now lives in the house she paid for with her ex-best friend, and Christmastime is filled with nothing but bad memories. Worse, she can't stand Ethan Wyatt, the Leather Jacket Guy author who is a relative newcomer and a bit of a rival.

Working on my assumptions, this is practically made for a Hallmark Christmas movie. (Not surprisingly, the author has written at least one of those.) It's a rom-com and a mystery as the two of them come together, partly out of self-preservation, and partly because they unravel their interwined past and start to understand what was going on back then.

The trip brings them to the estate of a reclusive fan, Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death, author of 99 best-selling novels, with rumors about number 100. She's in her 80s now, but that still means that she'd been churning them out for quite a while. Maggie (not Marcie, now) is her biggest fan. Ethan acts like he doesn't know he she is but also turns out to be a fan, having read the books with his mother before she walked out on the family.

There's a cast of characters, like someone assembled in Clue or Murder by Death, mostly relatives of some sort, along with another writer, the butler, and a police inspectror.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs.

The Crown of Zeus (Norris)

The Crown of Zeus
Christine Norris (2008)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a bonus book from a recent Kickstarter campaign. Note: my book, A Bucket Full of Moonlight was one of the books in the Kickstarter as was Norris's A Curse of Time and Vengeance.

I've read a lot of bonus stories. It was nice to read a full book for a change.

Since is was a special Kickstarter edition, I didn't get the pretty cover shown above. Also, I don't remember if my version mentioned the Library of Athena or that it was a series. (Maybe it wasn't back then?)

Megan and her dad move to England for his job. She hates the idea of leaving everything behind and having to start over and make new friends in a new school in a new country.

Then she winds up staying in a mansion, the Parthenon, that the company her father works for owns. It comes with a butler and maid as well as its own ghost stories. Megan hears about these stories at school. Next thing, she's having a sleepover with three classmates. The four girls want to hold a seance but end up going on an adventure that finds a secret library hidden beneath the mansion with steps leading down from behind a statue of Athena. Among the shelves, Megan finds a book titled The Crown of Zeus and the four girls are sucked inside of it.

Now they have to follow the clues and solve the puzzles to find the Crown of Zeus to get out of the book or they'll be stuck in there forever or killed trying.

The puzzles are familiar, and while there's no kraken released, Medusa needs to be beheaded and her head needs to turn another monster to stone. Nothing so esoteric that a teenage girl with an interest in Greek mythology can't figure out.

The four girls work together, save each others' lives and become best friends. And, spoiler, they get out with the crown. And then we learn more about Sir Gregory, the archeologist and student of magic.

The book was a little slow-paced but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. I'm not even the target demographic. I also proudly showed off to Christine Norris that I was reading her book when we were at an eSpec Books launch party at Philcon (Cherry Hill, NJ) last month.

So Good Reads is telling me that this is #1 in a series. Given the library in the basement, it seems natural that many more books could follow. Obviously, I'm going to have to check those out, too.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs.

My Hero Academia Volumes 38 and 39

My Hero Academia Volume 38 and 39, by Kōhei Horikoshi (2023)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Not really a lot to say other than I enjoyed them. This blog entry is mostly so they'll be counted in the year-end total. The final battle is still being drawn out. As with a lot of manga, the more action there is, the more difficult it can get for me to tell what's going on. But some of those background scenes and cityscapes are just amazing.

The books (in English) have caught up to the show (in Japanese with subtitles). The show recently eclipsed the books, particularly with Ochaco Uraraka and Himiko Toga.

Next book will be reserved as soon as possible.

The Mimicking of Known Successes (Older)

The Mimicking of Known Successes
by Malka Older (2023)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a book that I learned about at the World Fantasy Convention in Niagara Falls back in October. Someone mentioned it at a panel and I made a note of it. (Actually, I may have reserved it from the library while the panel was still going on.)

It was mentioned as a Sherlock Holmes type book and it reads like one, but it isn't because Older creates her own characters, which is appreciated. I don't mind modern takes on Holmes and Watson but writers, or perhaps producers in the case of television, want to do Holmes as best they can but at the same time changing everything about the characters, their relationships, their environment and surroundings. In this case, the characters are both women and the sapphic love story and mystery are set in space. (I believe the proper term is just "sapphic mystery", but I'm not sure if my usage is correct or not.)

In the future, Earth isn't inhabited or inhabitable but researchers orbiting Jupiter are working on that. There are man-made rings (former satellites and other junk?) circling the planet. I was exactly sure how these rings were oriented at first because we are given a location that is a longitudial (degree and minute) designation, so I thought that the rings ran pole to pole with rail lines connecting them. Then I realized that they are likely concentric equitorial rings and some must be further out. It is possible that the multiple rings run parallel to each other but which connections at certain locations. (Curiously, some platforms are degrees and minutes but others have actual names.)

Most of humanity lives clustered around one side of Jupiter with no one on the other side. There are trains that run the rails that circle the planet but they over travel to the farthest stations, along several lines. The stations are huge platforms and seem to be connected to towns and cities in stable orbit around the gas giant. Note that these platforms are open to the atmosphere because of the psychological problems of living enlcosed in spaceships. This means people have to wear special atmo-scarfs, for example, when outdoors. It also means that someone can go to the farther stop on the line and either jump to their death from the edge of the platform or be pushed.

The prologue details Investigator Mossa traveling to the end of the rail line to investigate a missing person. It's a small community there where strangers would be noticed coming and then disappearing before the next train arrives. It's assumed to be a suicide but Mossa isn't entirely sure. And if it was, why pick this spot? After questioning the people, she decides to the academic Pleiti, her college ex-girlfriend.

The narrative shifts here, and I had to go back. While the prologue was third person, Mossa was the POV characters. Now, Pleiti becomes the narrator and the POV character. It was confusing when I read it and even a little when I first listened to it, but then I rolled with it.

More of the world is explored. We learned more about Earth and what academics are doing to restore the Earth. We find out more about the man who disappeared and his associates. There's a tiger attack (a big cat, I forget which kind) which hurts Mossa and Pleiti needs to take care of her. And you wonder if the two are getting back together again.

Not much more I can say without spoilers. I know this page is for notes for me, not as a review to others who find the page, but I think the above will refresh my memory. Mostly.

It was an enjoyable read, and I look forward to getting the second book sometime after I catch up with other books in the TBR pile and the book club selections.

This was an ebook and I listened to the audio after I'd started reading (if I recall correctly). I don't think I finished the audio as I finished the ebook first.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs.

Fangirl: the Manga (Volume 4)

Fangirl: the Manga (Volume 4)
Manga adaptation of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl by Sam Maggs (2024)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Looking for random manga and the New York Public Library website recommended "Fangirl", which was a four-part adaptation of a novel, which I wasn't familiar with. So I started reading it. What I wasn't aware of at the time was that the fourth and final book has not been published yet. Arg.

The fourth book came out and I borrowed it. I read it a couple months ago.

Nothing much to add to my previous post. Cath and Wren are together again. Wren gets better (or at least gets help). Cath keeps writing, both in her Creative Writing class and her fanfic. In both cases, she's racing to beat deadlines: the end of the semester, and the publication of the final book about Simon and Baz, which will close the door on the series.

It was fun to read. The manga format, however, was a bit annoying. Once again the pages read from back to front, but the pages themselves were read from left to right, except when there was a two-page layout that had to appear as it was. This is likely confusing to both manga readers and comic book readers.

If you stumbled across my page thanks to a random search result, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs.

What Kind of Mother (Chapman)

What Kind of Mother
by Clay McLeod Chapman (2023)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This wwas a Pandemic Book Club pick. Otherwise, I'm not much into horror. For this month, the book selected was one of several that were written by Clay McLeod Chapman, who joined us for most of our book discussion. I participated and had a few things to say without trashing it.

Madi Price has returned to Brandywine, Virginia where she grew up. She is the mother of a 17-year-old daughter who is currently living with the girl's father who didn't want anything to do with her for many years. He's doing well, but Madi is living in a room in an old motel that was converted into a strip mall (and not a particularly good one). Madi goes to the weekly market to read fortunes like her mother used to. She doesn't have any gift. But as soon as she meets old boyfriend Henry McCabe, she has a vision associated with his missing son.

Henry's wife killed herself and his son disappeared. He's sure that he's still out there somewhere. He hangs up posters with computer technology aging his son's image.

Madi finally gives Henry a reading and leads him out into the waters around Brandywine, whether they come across a duck blind -- and Skyler, who has been missing for five years.

But, of course, it's not really Skyler. Henry doesn't want the authorities involved and Madi is freaked out. She wants to get away and take this boy to a hospital to be checked out. But it's not even a real person.

And that gives away enough. I had plenty of problems with this, such as the fact that Henry knew from the start that his son wasn't still out there despite being so convincing and hanging up flyers for five years and putting up with things people say. Henry finally does a 180 in his opinion, which almost seems organic but it's overshadowed by Madi going off the deep end in suddenly choosing Skyler, who'd she'd been suspect of, at the expense of her actual daughter. Her turn is overexpected. And then it gets crazier by the ending.

So, no, as well-written as it may have been, I didn't enjoy the book at all. Others into creature-based horror with mommy issues might feel otherwise.

This was an ebook and I didn't listen to too much of the audiobook.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs.

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies (Goodman)

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies
by Alison Goodman (2021)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was recommended on the Brooklyn Public Library page as something that I might be interested in. I read it and listened to most of it. If I finish reading first, I'm less likely to finish the audio before it needs to be returned.

Note that the cover is inaccurate because even though the two sisters are twins, one is several inches taller than the other.

The book is a high society amateur detective story set in the heart of Regency London. Several stories in fact. Lady Augusta Colebrook, “Gus,” is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents to rescue their friend’s goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband.

Along the way, they are attacked by and manage to subdue a highwayman, who isn't exactly what he appears to be. They use the man to pose as their brother, who they claim was wounded by a highwayman, to get to Caroline. When the man awakes, he sees no choice but to continue the ruse and is instrumental in getting away. Gus is terribly smitten with him as she's never been before, but he knows that they could never be together for it would ruin her, and he would surely hang.

They eventually get reunited for another case, and Gus becomes determined to prove the man's innocence.

This was an enjoyable (though a little long) book. I would read another in the series.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs.

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 173 (February 2021)

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 173
edited by Neil Clarke (February 2021)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Neil Clarke is the editor of a fabulous online science fiction magazine, Clarkesworld. (Note: I have submitted many stories to Clarkesworld. As of this writing, I have not been accepted. That doesn't mean I won't stop trying, nor does that bias this review in any way.)

If I've been informed correctly, when Neil goes to conventions, he brings along paperback copies of his magazine that didn't pass quality control. This book in particular is stamped on the inside front cover: This Is A Misprint. The cover failed quality control but the inside is fine.

As with last month's issue, I didn't see anything wrong with the cover I have, which looks like the cover shown above.

Being that this is summer, this book was mostly pool reading.

The stories include: note, I finished this a couple weeks ago and have read other books and start a new issue

• The Failed Dianas by Monique Laban. In the future, Diana comes down to Earth to a restaurant to meet herself. The original version she was cloned from. The original's parents weren't happy, apparently, at how she turned out, so they made another and another. And they all have their own special interests that they chose instead of what they're parents wanted. She meets DeeDee, 3D and Dr. Diana and they bring her up to speed, just as they were brought up to date. It was a fun little tale.
• Terra Rasa by Anastasia Bookreyeva, translated by Ray Nayler. Everyone is on the trains to get to the ships to escape the fires to get to the better place. People are scheming to get where they need to. The narrator has a pass to get her through. She's watching people. There are others who could use it. It has a twist ending.
• Obelisker Adrift in the Desert by K. H. Meridian. Another long one, but fewer than 30 pages. The narrator is an obelisk and gets called Obelisker by Kouya who survives a crash after an attack. The obelisk is an old station. The two have an easy truce. Plus she's wearing tactical gear and has special training. She leaves for a time to visit another village that obelisk watches without letting them know that the obelisk exists and is functional. Then there's an attack that must be repelled. Good story. Not like some of the other longer ones.
• "Remember the Washington" They Said as They Fed the Ugoxli by Jeff Reynolds. A quirky title, and I had to go look up what an "ugoxli" was because there have been a lot of aliens lately. No, I guess the story didn't resonate enough for me to remember.
• History in Pieces by Beth Godor. A story told as a series of puzzle pieces, but not all of the pieces are there, nor are they presented in order. The first is 37, with Cassandra stepping onto the surface of the planet, and the last three are 1005, 1006, and 1. It starts with the people on the ship not seeing an Archivist, but Archivist Tan is telling much of the story. It was an interesting approach. (Once again, I am writing this after 3 months after reading it and I rememeber little about it.)
• Terra Rasa by Anastasia Bookreyeva, translated by Ray Nayler. People on a train are headed to Murmansk, to the bay. They need to get to the ships there. The world is ending and the ships (sea, not space) are taking survivors to a better place, if they have passes. The narrator does, but there are others who do not. And others who will do what they must to get on the ship. The woman decides to stay with a child who has no one. But the ships that sail away aren't going anywhere. There's nothing left out there. An interesting, if not depressing, story.
• Mercy and the Mollusc by M. L. Clark. Another long one, with chapter titles (or section titles). It plays out like a western on another planet, but the steed in this case is a large mollusk creature name the Oomu, which is very mucusy. It's easy to ride. And one point, it attacks a kid and covers it with a mucus membrane so it can't escape, but it doesn't attempt to eat it either. It then goes off on its way and the rider has to figure out what to do. Again, there's more to it, but I don't remember. It was interesting, but too long. Wish I remembered more.
• We'll Always Have Two Versions of Pteros by Dominica Phetteplace. A shorter one with section numbers. The sections titles are names, many followed by 1 or 2. Barry believes that he's in the wrong timestream and that he's supposed to be somewhere else, namely on the Pteros. However, the Pteros has been destroyed, in this reality, at least. Lily thinks it's survivor's guilt because Barry knew people on the ship. Barry 2 was lost in space for a year and then he woke up next to Lily. It flows nicely.

The Nonfiction section of the book includes

• There are two interviews, an article about Peter Pan through the ages, and the 2020 reader's poll finalists. Interesting to note that there were ten stories listed for Best Story because there was a six-way tie for fifth place. Out of then stories, none were in the December issue that I'd read. "The Helicopter Story", which I haven't read but I know about because of the big splash it made in social media before the content was pulled, was nominated. I wonder if it won. I saw (a few months back) that it was available on a different website if I wanted to read it. Maybe at some point, but I'll more likely forget about it.

And that's this issue. An interesting issue, and I'll keep reading. I have at least one more that I've picked up at conventions, and the content is free online. Problem is that I can't read online magazines on the subway. (And, of course, pool weather is over for the year -- not that I'd take my ipad into the pool.)

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs.