The Golden Age (Robinson / Smith / Ory)

The Golden Age
James Robinson / Paul Smith / Richard Ory (1995)

(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.)

I don't know where this graphic novel came from. I don't believe it was in the FreeCycle donation I received, which means that it either came from a Little Free Library or from my brother Stephen's apartment. Despite it's age, it must've been a recent purchase. It hadn't been in his apartment for two or three decades.

No one had started reading this one, so I picked it up to be my Friday read in class.

This graphic novel was published in four parts in 1993 and 1994. It was first collected in 1995. It was reprinted in 2005 with "JSA:" added to the title. This means I read the 1995 edition.

The first thing I noticed was the collection of heroes on the cover. The central character wasn't anyone I was familiar with, so it was a moment before I realized that all the other characters were members of the Justice Society or the All-Star Squadron at some point. There were also members of the Freedom Fighters (who I recall retroactively were part of the All-Star Squadron or JSA), not including Uncle Sam. Many of the heroes were bought up from independent comic groups that went out of business in the 40s and 50s.

There were still a couple that I didn't recognize right away but I believe all of them show up in the story somewhere.

Some personal background. I was born into the Silver Age, when older heroes who had fallen by the wayside were being relaunched. It is the Silver Age versions of the characters that we have today. Some of them have been revamped again in the 21st century, but overall those changes were cosmetic, unless the heroes failed again in the 70s and 80s, leaving them open for a brand-new iteration.

I remember the annual JLA-JSA crossovers that usually featuring other heroes of the 40s-60s. And I read many of the reprints of "Famous First Editions", so I was aware of a lot of the old characters.

I was in college during the Crisis on Infinite Earths when all the Earths were combined into one (but there were still other dimensions). One fallout of this was that the characters who'd survived from the Depression and World War II, that is Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, whose origins, powers and identities didn't change, no longer appear as JSA characters. (Green Arrow was brought back very similar to his original self.) Only their Silver Age counterparts exist, as updated for the five decades that have passed since the Silver Age began.

Yes, the start of the Silver Age is nearly twice as long ago from now as the Silver Age was from the start of the Golden Age.

And speaking of the Golden Age...

This book is an Elseworlds, meaning that it happens outside the main continuity. Unlike Elseworlds where modern characters exist in older times (for example, a Victorian Age Gotham City), this story takes place in its proper timeline, so readers of these characters know whatever they need to know.

This book doesn't quite give "The Watchmen" treatment, but it does take some liberties.

I am aware of the Spear of Destiny, which allowed Hitler to take control of magic-based heroes and Superman (who is vulnerable to magic). In this story, that is a myth. The real reason that the heroes didn't go overseas was that FDR asked them not to go. They defended the homefront. Because of this, when the soldiers came home, many of the heroes retired because they weren't needed any more. Police, firefighters, and other personnel all came home.

One exception was Green Lantern, Alan Scott. He retired because he was bitter about the atomic bomb. His ring could've achieved the same results with less death and destruction. Likewise, Starman had a breakdown when he discovered that his cosmic energy helped to bring about the atomic bomb.

Tex Thompson, aka the Americommando or Mr. America, is one hero that did go to war and he killed many of the enemy. He comes back a hero and seeks political office. He becomes an early version of Sen. McCarthy. I didn't remember his name. I might have heard of both of his hero titles, not knowing they were the same person. I did know about Miss America, who is also in this book.

Another part of the story involves one of the heroes making a "Where Are They Now?" documentary while trying not to include too much Tex Thompson. It gets confusing because there are too many characters with the similar names. I think it was Johnny Quick doing this, not that he is separated from Liberty Belle, or Johnny Quick might've been the one trying to write the Great American Novel and failing miserably at it. This stuff rolls together after a while.

Among the ones that didn't retire are the Atom, Johnny Thunder, and Dan the Dyna-Mite, who are too young. They get involved with Tex's efforts to register all superheroes. Additionally, Robotman makes an appearance (much earlier than I was aware of his existence), and he is losing his humanity on his way to being a killing machine.

The Atom gets an office job because his body isn't right for an experiment that Tex is part of. Dan, however, is transformed into Dynaman. The two of them are very ambitious and plot a future where Thompson is elected president in 1952, by which point, the U.S. would likely have gone into Russia and China.

Manhunter, who is a vague memory to me, was also over in Europe during the war. When he finally comes back to the US, he's suffering from memory loss, and people are hunting him, trying to kill him. He meets up with Bob Daley, Thompson's former sidekick (Thompson is embarrased by the man now), and they eventually find Hawkman who helps Paul Kirk (Manhunter) get back his memories.

The things he saw changes everything and put all the events into a new light.

Everything after this would be a spoiler.

A couple other notes: Hourman is battling addiction, which I think is a topic that had been touched on before -- but not until the late 70s or early 80s, most likely. Granted, I don't remember exactly when it was revealed that Speedy was an addict.

I don't remember Captain Triumph. He's retired and haunted by a ghost that wants him to touch a tattoo to bring Captain Triumph out. He never gets his moment though because Lance Gallant tries to be a hero without the ghost.

Red Bee is in it, and not as comic relief. I'd seen one previous appearance in an issue of All-Star Squadron where he was one of the heroes that traveled to Earth X, where the Freedom Fighters were founded. His presence there was laughable as he was easily outclassed -- and I think he had his back broken almost immediately -- years before Bane did that to Batman.

I know who the villain is, and have read a couple of stories with him, but I don't really know much of his background, and he was never a favorite of mine. That said, he's appropriate for this story.

I enjoyed this story. Since it was an Elseworlds, the writers were free to experiment with the characters. Robotman becoming a killer was an odd choice, and far more heroes were killed off than was necessary for the story. It didn't have to be a bloodbath, but at least they didn't kill everyone just because they could.

It holds up well for a comic published 30 years ago that took place 50 years before that.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Slewfoot (Brom)

Slewfoot
Brom (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 book was a Pandemic Book Club selection.

The meeting was a couple weeks ago, but this post slipped through the cracks as I caught up with Library Thing books and Graphic Novels for my class.

Abitha is a young English woman who'd been sent by her father to a Puritan colony in Connecticut that's looking for wives. She's married to Edward who is ten years older than her and in some ways more of a fatherly figure. Edward is also a little on the slower side and easily dominated by his older brother Wallace, who inherited all the property from their father.

Edward has worked a farm owned by his brother for nearly 10 years and has only one payment left to make. Wallace informs him that he is given the farm away to pay a debt rahter than give away the family homestead that their father founded. Abitha is furious with the both of them and finds it difficult to mind her place in this Puritan society. (She could end up in the stocks or worse.)

Abitha coaches Edward so that he can make the case that the farm was promised to him first and that he has met his part of the bargain. The reverend, who is the final say in this community, agrees with Edward, as do as two associates -- including the one who is friendly to Wallace.

Life then gets turned upside down. Abitha leaves the gate open, and their one billy goat, Samson, wanders off into a cave and falls down a deep hole. Edward later goes to find the goat and disappears into the same hole (tricked by voices from down below). Unbeknownst to any of them, there are spirits underground, Forest, Sky, and Pond, who are trying to awaken "Father" to protect the woods and the special magic tree from the newcomers who have settled in the area. "Father" is supposed to be the destroyer of all, the slayer.

He doesn't wish to be. He doesn't know who or what he is, but he knows there's more to it.

When he is spotted, he is called the Devil, Satan, and Slewfoot. I have to admit that Slewfoot was a new one on me. When he finally meets Abitha, she names him Samson, after the goat. Side note: there is stunning artwork by Brom in the book and there is different artwork for Samson and Slewfoot. The question remains, are Samson and Slewfoot the same or is he just assuming the identity of Slewfoot for this story?

Seriously, I assumed that he wasn't really Slewfoot, but I was waiting for Slewfoot to actually appear, if for no other reason than the painting. But he doesn't. So is Samson actually Slewfoot? Or are such matters in this story beneath Slewfoot's notice?

In any event, Abitha doesn't want to find herself beholden to Wallace, her only family by law, and invokes her rights as a widow to champion the affairs of her late husband. She only need deliever the corn on time and the farm would be hers. But the rain said otherwise. And she's a frail and poor widow.

Samson helps her and soon there is enough corn to pay off the debt. Wallace is perplexed and decides to steal the corn with the help of some local Indians. They wind up burning it, and one man is dead.

Along the way, Abitha, who is a cunning woman like her mother, makes charms and salves for some of the girls and goodwives of the community. It is because of this (and because of the ghost of Edward and the site of Samson) that Wallace accuses Abitha of witchcraft. It doesn't help that when Abitha is attacked, Edward's bees fly out and sting only Wallace.

So while we get to root for Abitha beating Wallace and saving her farm, there was no way that this wasn't going to end with a Witch Trial. And being that it's Brom who wrote it, we were going to get an accurate trial, which wasn't going to go well for the accused witch. And it doesn't.

When all is said and done, she is tortured and condemned. Samson can take her away to live the rest of her life somewhere else, likely in pain, or he can make her like him where she might live a few hundred years.

And then the revenge tour begins. The downside to all this is that now everything that the others said about her when it wasn't true, is now true. This causes her only friend to curse and condemn her because she herself feels condemned and doomed now. (These are Puritans after all, even if Abitha wasn't one.)

A Book Club note: several members of my book club thought that she didn't go hard enough on Wallace. Everything she did was over too soon. (I want to say half a page but it was probably longer.)

Myself: I thought the revenge tour went on too long. I got it -- she Big Mad and now she has powers. And I could note that there was plenty of exposition to say that Samson was more of a Force of Nature than a Force of Evil, but this vengeance was purely evil. At one point, I wondered if Samson was going to tell Abitha to tone it down a little (at least until she got the hang of her powers or something), but he didn't.

Also by the end, they were identifying themselves as a witch and the Devil.

This didn't take away from my enjoyment (much) because I expected this.

I realized early on that Edward wasn't going to be saved. He wasn't coming back. He wasn't "inside" Samson -- actually, he sorta was. Edward moves on to the great beyond without Abitha, and now it seems that Abitha, though she tried to love Edward, has closed the door on following him. But she has Samson.

There's an epilogue that takes place 300 years later (the 1960s), which for some reason takes place in a wooded area in Virginia. I guess Connecticut is too settled or something. It didn't really add much except to show that she and Samson (who is mentioned, I believe, but not in the scene) are still around even though they left that wood, the farm, and the Puritans behind. Abitha should be near the end of her lifespan but she appeared as vibrant as ever.

I listened to about half this book but couldn't renew it. I started reading from the beginning again (which was probably a good move -- you miss stuff listening while out walking), and I plowed through it.

A good read.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Dream Sweet in a Minor Sea (De Beer)

Dream Sweet in a Minor Sea
Janneke De Beer (2025)

(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 book was a free Advanced Reader Copy from Library Thing. I'm encouraged (but not required) to leave reviews in exchange for the free books.

I left the following review on the Library Thing website:

In a dystopian future where political parties control the world government, a Mission Impossible / Ocean's 11 type team of experts is assembled to rescue a prisoner from a prison on an island in the Irish Sea.

The book opens with Mumilaaq Kuuluuiipiq preparing to steal a monkey from the zoo because she wants a monkey. When she returns home, there's a woman waiting to talk to her about a job because the stranger needs someone who can break into any place. A few more are recruited, including a hacker and the brother of the prisoner.

Unlike the teams I mentioned earlier, no one's safety is guaranteed, which we learn soon enough.

The rescue proceeds smoothly, and it's only afterwards that things start to go sideways. Unfortunately, the narrative goes a little sideways, and experimental, as well, making it a little difficult to follow.

Speaking of hard to follow, some of the characters occasionally speak in their native tongue. This is fine with the ebook's translator can handle it. However, Mumilaaq occasionally speaks in what I thought were symbols but is just a different alphabet, one which the translator couldn't work with. Toward the end of the book, I learned she spoke Inuktut, the main language of Iqaluit (in the Canadian territory of Nunavut). Interesting, but I have no idea what she was saying.

Anyway, there are unforeseen dangers and complications after the rescue, along with secret agendas, backstabbing, and broken promises. Nobody is really safe. Welcome to the Party.

---

A few other notes that didn't need to be in the Library Thing review. Some of this stuff might contain spoilers.

I have discovered that Dream Sweet in a Minor Sea is a pun or parody of the song title "Dream Sweet in a Sea Major", which itself is a pun on the phrase "Dream Suite in C Major". The song is written in C Major. Moving on.

As soon as the first person was blown up in their car, I knew that this wasn't going to go well for anybody. Oddly, from the excerpts that begin each chapter, I thought that the character was going to have a future ahead of him. I guess I missed what the date on that interview was.

A lot of stuff happens off-stage, and you have to read those things to understand what's going on.

The bit were the hacker is having a break-down didn't work for me -- this was when one AI murders a second AI which appears to be a part of her own personality. We're left to guess whether or not she'll survive.

There was a second experimental section where the same scene is told side-by-side by two different characters, one who is searching upstairs and the other who is searching downstairs. The problem is that niether character is anybody. They're both extras, and they're both on the same side, so they have essentially the same point of view.

This was weird to read in as an ebook, because I was scrolling, scrolling, scrolling ... and then I have to scroll back. They weren't the same length, so it didn't make sense to go back and forth. If there had been breaks in the text, then maybe it might've made sense to try that, but I didn't.

I enjoyed this book, but I thought it fell about once the resuce went sideways, so I knocked it down a star.


If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Children of the Fire Moon (Bigfoot)

Children of the Fire Moon
Bigoot (2025)

(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 book was a free Advanced Reader Copy from Library Thing. I'm encouraged (but not required) to leave reviews in exchange for the free books.

I'll be honest: I started asking for shorter books. My request is part of the reason that Library Thing now lists approximate page size in the descriptions. After getting several 400+ page books, I needed something a little smaller. This was under 200 pages, as are a lot of young adult books.

On the other hand, for some reason, I didn't notice that this one was authored by "Bigfoot", who also wrote Flume. I didn't like Flume. This one was a little better. Odd, but better.

I left the following review on the Library Thing website:

Three young kids live by themselves in an old cottage in a crater on a moon that circles a gas giant as part of an experiment that is never really explained. The kids themselves have no idea that they're part of an experiment and they don't know much else either. They know what they're taught by the Swamble, which is a mysterious voice that comes out of a lamp in a cave. They feed themselves by gathering spuds from trees but their supply is running out, and the kids are under-nourished. There's also an Observer in a satellite overhead who'd rather not get involved even when ordered to. One day, a rocket with an Alien shows up. We never learn the woman's name, and Margo calls her Twice-Girl because the alien is a girl who is twice as big as she is. She knows who the kids are and came to take them back to Earth. She sets up a picnic and tries to tell them a story but the kids won't listen to her. Bad things start happening, and the kids blame her. Who she is isn't really explained, and she's never named except as The Alien. Children of the Fire Moon is an interesting science-fiction tale that leaves the reader with a lot of questions, a few too many though.

---

A few other notes that didn't need to be in the Library Thing review. Some of this stuff might contain spoilers.

The Alien seemed to be resigned to leaving the kids behind very early. She gave up pretty quickly after insisting on getting all three of them to leave with them.

Jimi had the biggest character growth, deciding that he'll be the new Swamble, despite being so weak and not knowing anything.

It was very difficult for them to climb out of the crater the first time, but the made it back down. It's implied that the did again a second time, weighed down with extra food but without blankets, which burned up, and the fact that Robert is now blind.

I couldn't tell if Robert was temporarily blinded or permanently disfigured. Maybe I missed it or maybe I didn't want to acknowledge it.

The Alien was in a hurry because she knew others were coming after her, but the others never came. And she apparently never went back to Earth. Who she, or the Observer, or who any of the kids actually are is never explained. Why did they experiment with these three kids? And are there other kids in other craters?

Too many things not explained. That aside, I did enjoy the book if for no other reason than it was better for Flume and didn't have the odd ending that Flume had.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Skim (Tamaki / Tamaki)

Skim
Mariko Tamaki / Jillian Tamaki (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 graphic novel that was donated to me from FreeCycle by a woman in Carol Gardens, Brooklyn. Thank you. I picked it up one Friday to be my Friday read after the other students had chosen theirs. (Nearly none of the students brought their own comic.)

The story takes place in 1993 at a private Catholic girls school in Toronto. I'm curious if the writer has a connection to that particular time (as in, that's when they attended) or if they just wanted it to take place before cell phones were a thing. Or both.

Kim is Japanese-Canadian, and she is on the heavy side. She's called Skim, right from the start of the book, like it's already a thing, but it's not a joke that she finds amusing. She's goth, practices Wicca, and has an arm in a cast because she tripped over her altar in her room.

She's friends with Lisa, who is also into Wicca. They go into the woods to attend a ceremony that appears to be a bunch of aging boomers more than Wiccans or goths. Since it's 1993, they could all be aging Hippies, I guess, close enough that maybe they attended Woodstock. Those details aren't important but Kim and Lisa find the outing to be a bit of a bust.

There's one teacher who Kim respects, Ms. Archer, who is the English and drama teacher, and here's where the drama starts. Kim is infatuated with her to the point of looking up her address in the phone book (another reason to set it in 1993, I guess) and then goes to her house. Ms. Archer stops her and says that she never gave Kim her address. However, she doesn't chase her off. In fact, the two start to become close in a situation that I would realize even if I were not a teacher crosses a line. The only resolution to this is that Ms. Archer is dismissed, off-screen, sometime in the middle of the book and doesn't play a role in the rest of the story. We don't even see her when she drops out Kim's Tarot card deck before leaving for the last time. (We don't see her, either.)

As Kim and Lisa start to grow apart, Kim starts getting closer to Katie Matthews. Katie's ex-boyfriend, John Reddeer, broke up with her and then committed suicide. No one knows the reasons, but the speculation is that John was gay. This is not confirmed, but it is the prevailing theory among the girls. Katie falls off a roof and winds up with her arms in cast (like Kim). Some of the girls believe that she tried to commit suicide over John Reddear and keep her close. She can't stand it.

There were times that I confused Katie and Lisa, because it's a black and white book and the biggest difference between them is their hair. That's on me, though, especially since I was only reading this on Fridays during class.

I found the book to be okay, but I'm not the target audience for such a book. It was a bit disturbing with the inappropriate relationship, which was never really addressed before the teacher was dismissed. I don't know the queen bee/wannabe culture of girl schools or teenage girls in general but there's a lot of drama. (I never saw Mean Girls, and watching it at this point would be silly.)

I enjoyed the artwork, and the use of diary entries for the narrative. I'll likely skim through the book (I see the pun) to find some pages to use in class to talk about the technique in story telling: use of background, graphic weight, contrast, etc.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

The Sorrow Road (Dunstan)

The Sorrow Road
Mark Dunstan (2025)

(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 book was a free Advanced Reader Copy from Library Thing.

I left the following review on the Library Thing website:

Heavily inspired by Greek mythology but set farther north, The Sorrow Road is the tale of people from different nations being kidnapped by Satyrs and Cyclopes to travel The Sorrow Road, a sort of Hunger Games, where those carted away have a chance to earn their freedom if they can make it to the end of the Road before being hunted down by hounds, bears, satyrs, and Cyclopes.

The main group that we focus on, some of whom were enemies before they were abducted, don't believe that the Cyclopes will let them live so they set off cross-country through the mountains. Apparently, this has been done many times before because the Cyclopes mention it. And others figure out the same thing because the run into many others.

The format allows for some of the original travelers to be killed off because more will be added later. Unfortunately, by the end, so many are added that you never really get to know many of the characters or even care about them. You also wonder, considering how Brontes the Cyclopes is tracking Torben and his group, believing that they are exceptional prey, you wonder how so many survived to make it to the abandoned city.

If you like fantasy novels with big climatic last stand battles with mythical creatures, where no one has any plot armor and you wonder who will live or will they all get slaughtered, then you might enjoy this book.

I, on the other hand, thought it started off a bit clunky, but it picked up steam. I was all set to give it four stars, but the final battle just went on way too long after too much prelude. Any good editor would've cut 100 pages from this book, split before and during the final battle. (A good editor would've handles some of the grammar problems, too.) Too many character stories are set up that deserve some kind of resolution, but there's only death. And, honestly, some of the death could have been avoided if the author just didn't decide to kill the character. I don't like plot armor, but I don't like going out of your way to kill people either. (Also, two characters appear to have died but it turns out by some miracle they survived! They are immediately killed again in a scene that adds nothing to the narrative. They could've just stayed dead.)

And for all that, there's barely an epilogue to cover what happens after, even though years pass, and the little we get isn't satisfying for such a long trek.

I was determined not to DNF this novel.

---

A few other notes that didn't need to be in the Library Thing review. Some of this stuff might contain spoilers.

Okay, it's been a couple of weeks since I wrote the above, and most of what I wanted to complain about have fallen out of my head. But I'll try...

For starters, too many of the characters had stories, and many of them are left unresolved because so many of them died before the end. We get one small epilogue for one character, and we get to find out that four of the core members not only survived the Sorrow Road but also the dangers of the five-year trek across the continent to get home. It isn't enough. It's almost as if the author was just as tired of this book as I was. And I literally pushed on to finish it.

We don't learn about other survivors, and no, I wouldn't want a sequel to let me know.

I think the satyrs bothered me if only because for all the Greek stuff (weapons, clothing, terminology) that I was expected to know in advance (I looked them up -- forget about what kind of sword the thing was -- I didn't even know it was a sword), the author went into a bit of detail about what a satyr is. In my humble opinion, if you didn't know what a satyr was, you definitely didn't know that other stuff. But on the subject of satyrs, they're supposed to be men on top and goats on the bottom. Okay, maybe with horns as well (the goat kind, or maybe the musical kind, too). As I kept reading, they started to seem more and more animalistic and they weren't very bright. They could've been orcs or kobolds, but I assume that they needed something bigger, more threatening (and more Greek?) to go alongside the Cyclopes, which are big enough that they kept getting called Giants.

And speaking of giants, they were supposed to be 11-15 feet tall or so. The cover made one look the size of a Titan just from the perspective because he was supposed to be farther away and leaning in, not just standing next to them. I would think 11 feet shouldn't be too much bigger than a centaur, with is half a human body on top of the body of a horse, particularly if a centaur reared up on its hind legs.

If more occurs to me, I'll update this, but I likely won't.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Waverider: A Graphic Novel (Amulet #9) (Kibuishi)

Waverider: A Graphic Novel (Amulet #9) , by Kazu Kibuishi (2024)

On Tuesday, January 22, 2019, I posted my notes on the first eight parts of a nine-issue series, Amulet. I saw a bunch of the books in a classroom, and I borrowed (and returned) them, one at a time. I was disappointed to learn that the final issue in the series had not been released yet and wouldn't be for at least another year.

Fast forward six years, and the series comes to mind. (The fact that I'm teaching a Graphic Novel course might have something to do with it.) I checked and issue #9 came out in 2024! Last year! Five years later! The other books came out at a rate of one per year.

I didn't go back and reread anything, and maybe I should have, but I didn't have time with all these 400+ page books I wind up reading.

Emily is back and in more control of her powers. She's assembling a team of friends who will bring a satisfying conclusion to the series. And the series does conclude.

There isn't much more I would say that isn't either a) a spoiler, or b) wrong because I misremembered something.

And thanks to that Graphic Novel class, there may be more graphic novels in this blog in the coming months.

Cold Sassy Tree (Burns)

Cold Sassy Tree
Olive Ann Burns (1984)

(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 book was a Pandemic Book Club selection.

I started listening to this book before I started reading, but I eventually caught up and finished the ebook first (which my the audio less important to finish). I listened to the first chapter twice just so I had an idea what was going on.

Cold Sassy Tree refers to the sassafras trees that the town of Cold Sassy were named after even though there's only one tree left by 1906. The rest are all gone. Cold Sassy is a fictional town in Georgia.

The story is narrated by a 14-year old named Will Tweedy. It has a definite beginning but it just sort of ends. At least it wasn't open-ended (although there is a sequel where I guess the boy is grown some more.)

What stands out about this book is the folksy tone with which it's narrated, and I didn't mind the spellings that were used. (This was much better than the "stylistic choices" made in The Bee Sting). It took a moment to figure out a few words, but after that, they were familiar with repetition. "Cudn" was an amusing one for "cousin". I never did figure out why they'd sometimes end sentences with "one".

The story starts a few weeks after Will's grandmother has died with his grandfather's announcement that he's getting remarried to a woman who works in his store. Scandalous is this seems (and unseemly, too), he doesn't want to be a burden on his two daughters, so he either has to get a new wife or hire a Negro housekeeper, and he figures a wife is cheaper. Will will later learn that it isn't a "real" marriage, but an arrangement to make Miss Love Simspon his new housekeeper and not the new Mrs. E. Tucker Ruckslee.

Their story is the backdrop of learning about Will working in the store, going to school, and getting into fights. Along the way, he learns to drive the only two cars in town, and almost gets run over by a train. He is helped off the tracks by a mill girl he likes (and eventually kisses).

My one problem with this lighthearted tale is that it eventually takes a dark turn, and then gets absolutely brutal.

I could also complain that they never mention driving to another town to get gasoline for the cars since there isn't a gas station in Cold Sassy as there are only two cars before Mr. Ruckslee starts selling them.

Other than the dark parts, you could imagine that this was any boy's misadventures growing up at a particular time in history. (I won't compare it to Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn because I haven't read those in a long time and I'm sure there was more and sharper commentary on society than here.) And the book could've gone on for a few more chapters before the events that bring on the ending of the book. I didn't pay attention to the timeline, but it could've been that it was a full year or a complete school year over which the book takes place.

This was an enjoyable book, and a nice change of pace from recent reads. Now I have to wait nearly a month for the meeting!

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Eden: It's an Endless World! Volume 1 (Endo)

Eden: It's an Endless World! Volume 1
Hiroki Endo (1997/2005)

(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 picked up at Readercon in Boston, MA back in July. It was on the freebies table, and I only took it because it was volume one.

From Good Reads:

Eden Volume One is both a brilliant love song to the post-apocalyptic survival genre and the beginning of a deep exploration on man's role in the natural order. In the near future, a large portion of humanity is wiped out by a brutal, new virus that hardens the skin while dissolving internal organs. Those who aren't immune are either severely crippled or allowed to live with cybernetically enhanced bodies. Taking advantage of a world in chaos, a paramilitary force known as the Propater topples the United Nations and seeks world domination. Elijah, a young survivor searching for his mother, travels towards the Andes Mountains with an artificially intelligent combat robot. When he encounters a group of anti-Propater freedom fighters, a maelstrom of unique characters unfolds. Graphic, cyberpunk, and philosophical, Eden is a place where endearing heroes face a constant struggle for survival and violent surprises wait around every corner!

It was an interesting story and a quick read. It's not available from any of the local libraries. The series was popular when it came out in English, or so I've read.

The story follows two immune teens and a scientist who is succumbing to the disease and who also had a hand it its spread. There are a lot of flashbacks to a time when the virus started and pockets of humanity are protected within governmental walls.

It then jumps ahead a generation where the child of the two teens is traveling with a robot.

No, I'm not describing it well. Also, I'm curious what happened to his parents.

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina (Córdova)

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina
Zoraida Córdova (2021)

[AUDIO BOOK -- I don't include covers for audiobooks unless I've read them as well.]

(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 book was a Pandemic Book Club alternate selection. That is, it didn't win the group poll. However, I requested all the books as soon as the poll went up because many times there are holds for these books. The audiobook became available, so I listened to it. I don't remember what the wait was for the ebook, but since it didn't win, I didn't worry about it.

This was an enjoyable book although I might've restarted it early on because sometimes it's difficult to focus on the book while I'm out walking or because there's traffic or overhead trains running by. (I do this often.) I need to be doing something when I listen to audiobooks. I can't just sit there, not even on a subway.

The book bounces around between the past and the present. We learn that Orquidea didn't know who her father was, that she ran away with the circus, and that she had five husbands during his lifetime, so he used different names at different times.

Her grandchildren show up Four Rivers when she's dying to find out about their inheritance. There's more backstory into the grandchildren as well. In particular, we get to know a lot about Marymar, a name that is said many, many times and that I sometimes laughed at how it is pronounced for no reason. (On the other hand, I was a little annoying sometimes, so maybe I was smirking at my own annoyance.) It was later mentioned that her name meant "sea and sea" or "sea to sea", so it's either Marymar or Maramar. It's sounded more like a "y".

The story takes weird turns when Orquidea dies and turns into a tree. This is not metaphorical. And later, SPOILER, there are space aliens involved. I did NOT see that coming.

Would I consider reading this? Yes, but.

The "but" is because I'm so backed up with reading. I have the book club books, the Library Thing books (I'm 2 behind at the moment), books on hold at the library that I keep postponing and saying "deliver later", and books that I just want to read but haven't gotten around to yet. If this is still on hold, then it'll show up at some point. If it isn't on hold, there's a good chance that I'll forget about it until my end-of-year review.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

The Bee Sting (Murray)

The Bee Sting
Pauy Murray (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 book was a Pandemic Book Club selection. It was also a 600+ page slogfest. If it had not been for the book club, I would have DNF'ed it 100 pages in -- by 200 for sure. As it was, I still had 150 pages to go when the meeting happened. I had already been spoiled that the book was left open-ended, which after 640 pages is a little outrageous. During the meeting, I discovered just what it was that was left open-ended. I was satisfied that I didn't need to read this book.

At the point where I considered dropping this book, I wrote the following on Good Reads:

First, there are no quotation marks, which gets a little confusing. Then almost all of the other punctuation disappears. Then there’s a slog of a chapter that’s literally 100 pages long, and you want to k!ll yourself instead If this hadn’t been a book club book, I wouldn’t have pushed on as far as I did, and I still couldn’t bring myself to finish it. I just didn’t care about anybody, how their lives were or where they’d end up, or even about that bee sting A good editor would’ve cut between 2-300 pages from this monstrosity. If there was a reason for it to be this long, I never got to it.

After the meeting, I was happy to put that book aside and read something else, The Bartender Between Worlds, which I enjoyed very much.

I started reading the next Book Club pick, but then I decided that I would power through this book.

Let me say right off: it didn't get better. It got worse. For the last 100 pages or so, it switched to Second Person POV, because it needed a fresh layer of Hell. And it applied this to all the different POV characters that it had. It wasn't using it to make the reader the POV character.

Yes, playing with the format might've been a storytelling tactic. It was an absolutely abyssmal choice.

The icing on the wedding cake came in Part III when it switched to a script format, except it wasn't a script. Just the formatting on the page was so you'd know with Second Person POV was involved in this bit. The main reason for the script, as far as I can tell, was because all the players were being brought onto a single stage so that open-ended ending could take place.

I never got the answer to my question, why this book had to be so long. On the other hand, they did address the "bee sting" in a way that explained why it was important enough to be the title of the book, and like so much that came before it, everything is a lie.

In the end, every adult is morally reprehensible for one reason or another, and when faced with a moral quandary tend to fail.

But, I got through this book and can return to next month's book, which is already better, and not quite as long.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

The Bartender Between Worlds (Steuernagel)

The Bartender Between Worlds
Herman Steuernagel (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.)

It would be faint praise to say that this is the best book that I've read in a while. However, I really enjoyed this book. I don't remember how I heard of this book, but once I heard the title, I looked it up. The cover didn't sell me on the book, but it did help.

To be honest, I was curious because one of my writing prompt responses does have a bar between worlds. But it isn't an actual story. It's more of a behinning of something that needs a lot more. It could be a setting for a related set of short stories.

Thankfully, this book was nothing like mine.

First of all, the main character Emma isn't a bartender. She's a Hunter of people touched by magic, until she realizes that she's touched by magic. Then she tries to escape her life and wants to be a bartender because her magic affects alcohol. And she doesn't become a bartender "between" worlds but across different dimensions. Also, dimension hopping happens through portals, so there isn't any "between", no etheral plane, as well. That's not a criticism, just an explanation.

The story takes place across a handful of worlds that are all recognizeable but wildly different. Still, the counterparts of the main characters can, and do, inhabit these new Earths.

The original Earth starts generic fantasy English although there is mention of railroads. Emma encounters a fairy and a wizard. The wizard is a professor from another world who is trapped here because his device no longer works. I thought he was going to be steampunk, but he's actually from a 21st century world like our own without any magic. This proves difficult for the magic users, so they leave again to do more research on dimension hopping.

It was a quick read and under 300 pages, both of which I appreciated after a couple of books that I slogged through.

I enjoyed this book. I would consider reading a sequel.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Write Something (Levenberg)

Write Something
Mitch Levenberg (2015)

This was not the cover of the book that I read, but that image doesn't seem to be available anywhere online

(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.)

I'm not sure where this book came from. It either came out of a Little Free Library, or I brought it back from Readercon in Boston. I think Boston is probably the correct answer because I don't think I've had it for very long. It feels like I just got this, and that it hasn't been in my basement for a couple years. There are no stamps to indicate it was owned by a school or a library.

This book is 17 short essays (columns?) about reading, writing, Brooklyn, Flushing, Coffee, Cuban Coffee, Mosquitoes and whatever. Okay to read. Nothing memorable.

That's the summary. There isn't anything more to say about it, other than, if this can be a book, then I can write books, too.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

The Dream Keeper and Other Poems (Hughes)

The Dream Keeper and Other Poems
Langston Hughes (1932/1994)

Illustrated by Brian Pinkney

This was not the cover of the book that I read, but that image doesn't seem to be available anywhere online

(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 borrowed from school last summer but didn't read until this one. I found it (and many, many others) shut up in a locker in the back of my classroom that I practically had to pry open.

The introduction and other material were copyright 1994. Also, this edition had "Additional Material", that is, extra poems from Hughes, included.

I can't say that I've ever read a collection of poems by Langston Hughes. I'm sure we covered one or two somewhere in college, and I've seen poems referenced in textbooks and newspaper columns. But actually read a collection? No.

This has been rectified.

Some of the shorter poems up front were surprising. They were some little ditties, light verse, out of context that may have meant more to me 100 years ago. I appreciated the longer poems, which had meter, rhyme, or some structure to them, unlike the modern free verse I encounter too often. I enjoyed the note of the differences between spirituals and blues.

The book was about 80 pages, divided into sections: The Dream Keeper, Sea Charm, Dressed Up, Feet O' Jesus, Walkers with the Dawn, and Additional Poems. I enjoyed the illustrations as well.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

In the Margins: They found their place by not fitting in (Shea)

In the Margins: They found their place by not fitting in
John Shea (2012)

This was not the cover of the book that I read, but that image doesn't seem to be available anywhere online

(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 borrowed from school last summer but didn't read until this one. I found it (and many, many others) shut up in a locker in the back of my classroom that I practically had to pry open.

This book is essentially two half-books. The first half is about Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (which I also saw in that classroom locker), his life growing up on and off of the reservation. The second half is about Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of Butterflies, and her life growing up and leaving the Dominican Republic.

It was a quick, informative read. I can't say I've heard of either one of them before, but I am aware of them now. Ms. Alvarez has quite the bibliography, so I might pick something out to read at a later date.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

Trial by Moonlight (Hanford)

Trial by Moonlight,
A Rise of the Summer God Adventure,
Summer H. Hanford (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 booklet that I picked up at World Fantasy Con in Niagara Falls, NY, 2024. It's only 46 pages, and an additional ten pages for a preview of another book, but it's bound like a book, and longer than the other novellas I picked up, so I'm calling it a book. (And this will balance out with the number of 400+ pagers I've been reading lately.)

Aldera came to live in the pines of Ravenwood with her mother. She wasn't born there, but she wants to be accepted there. And she wants to learn the ways of the witches there and be able (one day) to transform into a raven. She is woken on the night of her 12th birthday by the other girls to undergo a three-part test. She almost doesn't survive.

Not much else to say about it.

There's a cool two-page map where I assume the Summer God adventures take place, but this entire story takes place in basically one location (though they move around to three parts of that area).

It was a pleasant, quick read, and I really needed some quick reads after some of the things that I've ploughed through lately.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam: An Illustrated Memoir (Fleming)

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam: An Illustrated Memoir
Ann Marie Fleming (2007)

(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.)

I picked up this graphic novel at the same time that I picked up Pedro & Me, which I read back in 2018. I read that one (mostly) in the pool, and I started this one. Then summer ended, and this got pushed to the side and I lost track of it. Both books came from the Port Chester-Rye Brook Public Library, which means I likely acquired them at Lunacon.

Who is Long Tack Sam? That's the question that his granddaughter wanted to answer while writing this book. It contains many images, illustrations, and photos of programs and posters about the famous Chinese magician. And he was famous back in the days of Vaudeville and beyond. So much so that I'm surprised that I never heard of him, particularly when he's picture with so many peope who I have heard of.

It could be because he retired and left the United States, returning to Austria, where his wife was from.

This was an interesting book to read and a good use of the graphic novel format. There were little history lessons in the margins, a chronology of world events so the reader could put Sam's life in context.

If they made a movie about him, I'd watch it.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-so-popular Party Girl (Russell)

Dork Diaries (2): Tales from a Not-so-popular Party Girl
Rachel Renée Russell (2010)

(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 NOT one of the books that I took from the Little Free Library in my neighborhood. And, unfortunately, I didn't take the bunch I saw in a different library when I had a chance!

That said, these books are still popular fifteen years later -- and I had to remind myself of the publishing date to reconcile some of the language and technology in the books. As it was, it was a bit of a wait for the ebook, after which I realized that these books lose something as ebooks. I finally got the physical book, and read it pretty quickly. (Summer time: I read a lot of physical books in the pool, and this was no exception.)

This book takes place not long after the first book and involves throwing the annual Halloween party. The book is written in diary format and contains nuerous drawing and doodles from author Nikki.

Nikki still doesn't think that Brandon will ever notice her, and she is shocked whenever he does, even after he came to the rescue in the first book.

Zoe and Chloe are still Nikki's BFF's in the library club. They have a plan to join the clean-up crew for the Halloween Party and then pretend that the band members are their dates, so they don't have to worry about being asked.

Of course, Mackenzie Hollister is in charge of organizing the Halloween Party, and, of course, she still hates Nikki and she still wants Brandon. When things don't go well for Mackenzie, she has everyone quit their committee assignments, leaving all the responsibilities to Nikki, Zoe, and Chloe to organize the party themselves -- and Mackenzie and company cancelled everything that they'd already done. If the Library girls can't get the party organized on their own, it will be up to them to cancel the school's annual party for the first time ever.

These are fun books, even if I'll never write for this level.

I look forward to the next book, which I believe I own a copy of. However, there are other books that I need to read and pass along first.

Paperback.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

Renegades (Burton)

Renegades
Nathan Burton (2025)

(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 an ARC from Library Thing (although the book was published in February). It was another book over 500 pages -- I need to stop requesting these. And while I won't hold the fact that I received a PDF file instead of an EPUB, it did lessen my enjoyment of the book. PDFs *suck* to read.

Renegrades reads like a season of a science fiction television show, such as Firefly but with fewer morals and more deadly sins but still a hint of conscience. The Desire is a crewed by five people and a robot who are for hire but also looking for an extra score wherever they can take advantage of a situation.

The chapters are like individual episode with continuing characters and themes which all come together in the last two chapters. Every chapter has something to contribute to the finale. The ending, however, was disappointing. It took a turn that wasn't exactly out of the blue, but it made it difficult to figure how Matthias's actual plan was supposed to go down before it all goes wrong. (Not as bad as the waterslide book ending, for sure!)

Matthias Mead is the captain, looking for his next score, which could be monetary or female. Nath is a former Earth Ranger with a chip on his shoulder. He's usually the more rational one with the bigger guns. Hayley owns the ship and has a gambling addiction, which gets her and the crew into trouble. The young twins, Haque and Watson, are from a moon of Saturn who eat a lot and have other skills.

The first assignment they get is to run security for the wedding of the head of a galactic crime syndicate who operates in all Nine Sectors. Matthias immediately hires extra help so he can run a side scam, stealing items of value from the rich invitees. In the end, Matthias, the lustful one, has an encounter with the bride in a bathroom (recording it with camera contact lenses). The Renegades are now on the run from the Marosky Syndicate as they are from the actual authorities (because not every job they take on is on the up and up). If that's not bad enough, they run into a few remainders of the ancient race of Primordians, who are actually more numerous than expected, and are deeply entrenched in Earth politics.

Jobs become harder to get and there's way too much time spent talking about recycling urine. You would think with an entire universe out there, they could find a lake somewhere and fill the tanks with fresh water.

As for those sins I mentioned: Nath represents Wrath, and don't get him started. He has his moment to shine. Greed is prevalent among all of them, but Hayley, who actually owns the ship, will take just about any bet and has a lot of gambling debts that the crew has to pay off. The twins, Watson and Haque, have Gluttony thanks to an operation done on their home planet, so they can eat a lot and not put on weight. Envy and sloth don't play much of a role, but pride goes without saying. This is a side exercise of my own even since someone once proposed that each of the cast of Gilligan's Island represented a Deadly Sin. In the case of the Renegades, there's only five crew members (and the twins are very similar) along with a robot but there are secondary characters that help out along the way.

This was another book that was just too long, and I pushed through to get to the end of it. At least, it was mostly entertaining, but, again, I was disappointed in the ending.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

Kiss Number 8 (Venable)

Kiss Number 8
Colleen A.F. Venable,
Ellen T. Crenshaw (Illustrator) (2019)

(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 selection. I was working during the meeting, which is a shame because Venable was invited to take part.

This is a graphic novel, which takes place in 2004. (I forgot that little detail between the first and second times reading the book, and everything in the story suddenly seemed dated. Oh, right.)

The story opens with Mads detailing her lackluster first kisses, particularly the first seven boys she kissed. Given what I knew of the book, I wasn't surprised that this led up to kissing a girl in a car. The girl tells her to get out of the car. There's more to this moment that will be revealed much later.

The story then rewinds a little bit. Mads has two friends, almost by default from where they all live, Cat, who's the fun, crazy one, and Laura, who's the dependable, boring one. Laura has an older brother, Adam, who's started to notice Mads more and more.

Mads goes to Tornadoes ballgames every week with her dad. (The Tornadoes are a nod the the Brooklyn Cyclones, who play in Coney Island, close to the author's home. Go Cyclones!)

Mads is going through typical teenage growing pains and such when she overhears a phone call her father gets from someone named Dina. She also finds a letter with a check for her, and a picture of someone named Sam.

She thinks her father is or was having an affair, and then later comes to realize that both her parents are lying to her. This causes her to spiral a little and act out with Cat.

It becomes more obvious that she is attracted to Cat, who is attracted to boys.

With Laura's help, they track find information about Sam, who used to be Samantha, and the story takes a new twist.

This was an enjoyuable book with the two stories intertwining. It wasn't preachy, and it's most devastating scenes are shown by Crenshaw in a flashback while the narration is stating that the opposite is happening. This is how some stories get twisted and passed along.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

Cast the First Stone

Cast the First Stone
Rivka Galchen (2021)

[NO IMAGE -- AUDIO BOOK ONLY)

(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.)

I needed a new audiobook to listen to while I'm out walking (and I do a lot of walking). It would be nice if the library had a tag for audio duration or if I could sort by time. Cast the First Stone came up as a "short enough" science fiction novel, so I gave it a shot without knowing anything about it.

Overall, I was pleased, and during the summer, I might look for the actual book after I've caught up with some other books.

The main character is a cop named Rembrandt Stone, who receives a watch from the former Chief of Homicide, who passed away, along with a box of cold cases. The watch doesn't seem to work, so he brings it to a jeweler who tells him that the watch is working exactly as it should be. Stone doesn't understand.

Stone wakes up "the next day" and he's traveled back in time to the time of an unsolved cold case involving three bombings. He also has the young body he had back then. He believes that he's still dreaming, but he goes along with it and tries to solve the case. He starts to realize something's off when he stays in the past.

While he's there, he sees the jeweler again, or for the first time, and sets up the future meeting. He also starts talking to the woman who would later become his wife, figuring that he could speed things up, instead of waiting years to start dating.

Instead of getting information to solve the cold case in the "future" (the present), he prevents the third bombing and solves the crime "back then".

Stone returns to his present time, feeling the pain of the injuries he'd suffered many years earlier. The book ends with Stone finding else what else has changed in the intervening years. This opens the book up for a series where he can solve more cold cases -- but are they really cold cases any more? -- while trying to repair the damage he's done to his own personal life.

Would I read more of these? Maybe, but first I have to read the first one.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

My Hero Academia Volume 40

My Hero Academia Volume 40, by Kōhei Horikoshi (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.)

The story is winding down with the former All-Might facing off against the foe that ended his career. All Might had been using all sorts of technology to mimic the powers of the students in 1A (who should be in 2A by now, right?)

All Might had no chance at victory, but as with Batman said in an episode of Justice League, I'm not trying to beat you, I'm trying to stall you. Bakugo arrives for a final showdown. Remember that Bakugo holds himself responsible for All Might retiring.

The story is winding down, and Deku will have to take down Tomura Shigiraki.

I'll be sorry when this story ends if it means that publication ceases. The story will have been told, but there's more stories to tell with all these heroes.

Volume 41 is on hold at the library.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is A Witch (Galchen)

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is A Witch
Rivka Galchen (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 a Pandemic Book Club selection. The meeting was postponed due to conflicts and had not taken place at the time of this writing.

I was able to get the audiobook quickly and then got a copy of the hardcover. There's a long wait for the ebook, which is surprising for a four-year-old book, particularly one that was "meh".

The book was a little better than the audio because I listened for a couple of hours and wasn't sure what I was listening to.

First thing, the book is historical fiction. The woman in question is the mother of Johannes Kelpar, and the events in the book are based on an actual incident. That being said, the author was intrigued by reading a nonfiction book about the case and decided to write her own book, a book which invents many of the characters and some of the incidents. This almost makes me wish I had read the original nonfiction book, if it's available in English. On the other hand, there are many nonfiction books that I read and think, "This should've been an essay."

I am seriously not likely to search for the original book because the incident just doesn't pique my interest enough, particularly after reading one book on the subject.

Basically, the book was boring. I kept waiting for something to happen. It's almost like this was someone's writing exercise, to write a journal in someone else's voice, and then sold it. I finished the audio a couple weeks back and I couldn't tell you how it ended.

Despite not enjoying this, I pushed forward to read the book, so I could finish it before the original meeting date. I didn't. And then a week later, I brought the book back to the library unfinished because others were waiting for it. I still have the audiobook, so I could re-listen to, say, the last hour, but I'm not sure that I will.

This will be one book that I give a medicre rating to, not because it wasn't well-written, but just because I was bored.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

Beyond the Ocean Door (Sathi)

Beyond the Ocean Door
Amisha Sathi (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 an ARC I received from LibraryThing. Part of what is posted here will be in my review on their website. I'm confused, though, because their site says the book was published back in December.

Beyond the Ocean Door is a fantasy with an impressive amount of world-building and history before the book even begins. In a secluded valley, the Vale, there is a military organization, the Vow, that keeps the people safe from everything outside of the valley. We're never entirely sure just what's out there. The Vow was founded by legendary telepath Valeria Reed, who trains the telepath students. In the current class of "Rooks", there are only three of them.

Not all telepaths are the same, as there are nine different gifts that they might have, but all can create imaginary worlds called "Veils", which usually look like the regular Vale.

Kallista, who had her memories erased when she was brought to the Vale ten years ago, has the same powers are Valeria, while Maya, who was born in the Vale, has a different ability. Both Maya and Kallista want to leave the Vale because they feel like they are prisoners.

No ocean doors appear until nearly halfway through the novel. It's a door that Kallista discovers in her Veil that seems to lead into some chaotic dimension. We later learn that everyone has an ocean door and it leads into their subconscious, and by entering a telepath can manipulate a person.

I liked the world-building but I thought the book was a little long and dragged in places, but the pace picks up toward the end. And I enjoyed the use of "stories in three acts" to relay flashbacks through an unreliable narrator.

The story is basically over but with all the history, a prequel story about the formation of the Vow and what is beyond the valley could be interesting.

This took me longer to read than I thought it would, and I have to be careful about requesting 500+ page books from Library Thing in the future.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

The Silent Patient (Michaelides)

The Silent Patient
Alex Michaelides (2019)

(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 selected as my Pandemic Book Club's selection for this month. I listened to it first, and then started reading the hardcover from the library.

This turned out to be an unsual experience in that in the past, I've started listening first because the audiobook is usually available before the ebook. Print books are usually available first but I tend to read print books more in the summer when I'm off. Carrying hardcovers back and forth to work (and along for all the walks I take) isn't preferable. Anyway, once I get an ebook, I generally catch up quickly to the point where I've listened to and then finish the ebook. Generally speaking, if I finish the book electronically, I'm less likely to finish listening to it.

This time, I finished the audiobook before I even opened the print edition. And I almost didn't bother reading it at all. Why? Because I was annoyed with the ending. So much so that I didn't want to actually read the book I'd listened to. However, since this is a reading blog, I will at least read until I have the online group meeting. If I'm not finished reading by then, I might not finish at all.

Okay. So why didn't I like this book? What was wrong with the ending. Also, I am aware that this is the third book in a row, where I hated the ending, but each for different reasons.

I can point to three specific problems: First, the narrator is unreliable; second, the narrator withholds information while telling a very long-winded story with a lot of details; third, the events are not documented chronologically and we are not told that it is not chronological. What I mean by this is that some scenes are actually flashbacks but we are not told that these are flashbacks. And I imagine the ending is worse in the audiobook because there really seems to be a tonal change in the narrator's voice while reading the epilogue (or the last portion).

Other points: the book is called "The Silent Patient" but should be called "The Bloody Pompous Psychoanalyst Who is Full of Himself". He's the story, not the patient. There's a side plot about his wife having an affair, which doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything, but when it actually does later on, it's more annoying than revealing. And the reasoning why the silent patient is silent is unsatisfying at best, even when he gets her to talk again.

Knowing the ending before I starting reading the print book left me open to question why he's actually doing some of the things that he's doing. It's the opposite of rereads when you see the subtlety worked into the narrative and say, "Oh, that's why he did that!". The second time, things make less sense. There are reasons I supposed, but again, unsatisfying.

The story: Alicia Berenson is a famous painter who is married to a fashion photographer (Gabriel) and who infamously kills her husband by shooting him in the face, or so we're told. From the time she is found until the present, she is mute. She either cannot or will not speak. She is committed to a mental hospital (the Grove) instead of prison. The trial was a newspaper sensation for a while.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who is intrigued by this case and takes a position at the Grove so he can take her on as a patient. He left a good position for one that might not be there in six months, as the Grove is not doing well financially. While working the case, he acts like a detective, visiting surviving family members and others associated with her painting career. He does eventually get her to talk about the case.

Ther eisn't much more to say about the book or the other characters. I will add that someone on the discussing list for my book club mentioned that htey saw the "twist" coming long before I knew that there would be a twist instead of a simple resolution.

Again, this was an audio book and a hardcover. The ebook hadn't become available before the meeting.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

Flume (Bigfoot)

Flume
Bigfoot (2025)

(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.)

I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book from Library Thing. The author's name is given as "bigfoot" (not capitalized). The review that I'll post there is included in this blog entry.

Basically...

This was an unusaul and imaginative tale in that the entire book takes place during the 33 minutes it takes three teens are in the world's largest water flume in London. The flume is over a mile long from London Bridge to Waterloo Station. We learn through a toy model in one of the many flashbacks that there's a secret Core in the flume that sliders can take and arrive at the bottom at the same time.

It's at this point where the book becomes fantasy, and it was difficult to suspend disbelief. Shanks, who's been afraid of the water since he was a child and who can't swim, is in the flume with two friends, Yam and Flo. Yam wants to search the secret of the Core when the builder of the flume, Poppity, disappeared in and was never found. Oddly, it's not sealed off and easy to get into. Once inside, they are in a world that could not exist in the structure of the flume, not without taking up a sizable amount of real estate in London, at which point, it would hardly be secret.

There's not much action but a lot of introspection by Shanks about his past. He also seems to do quite a bit of floating and swimming for someone who can't swim. I was ready to give this four stars just for being something different. However, the ending was out of left field and left all the questions that Flo and Shanks had been asking unanswered, or at least unproven as they were never challenged.

Shanks, who is an orpahn, has a phobia about water and doesn't like to swim. He's given a ride on the Flume by "Captain" (who has been raising him) as a birthday present, and he rides it with two friends. First is Yam who knows everything there is to know about Poppity, the sailor who created the flume, and Flo who wants to "hack" Shanks' code to figure out what his problems are. Shanks has flashbacks about a lighthouse and a woman falling from it. He realizes that the woman is his mother and he saw her die. He's not sure at first how she fell. If she was pushed, then who pushed her? Shanks believes he has the answer by the time he exits the flume, but then nothing comes of it because the author just goes off in an unexpected direction that has little to do with the everything that happened prior.

This was a free ebook.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!

Fall Into Temptation (Score)

Fall Into Temptation
Lucy Score (2022)

[NO IMAGE, AUDIOBOOK ONLY]

(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 alternate selection. The wait for the ebook and audiobook were so long that I got a print book. This, of course, was silly, because by this point, Starter Villain, had already been selected so there was no urgency to read this. However, I'd forgotten which month this was for and was thinking that it was a choice for April. And then the library told me that I couldn't renew it because someone was waiting, so I have to dive in, reading this on the train every day. As it is, it's more than a week overdue. It may have been reported "lost" and I may have accidentally purchased it.

The book says that it is a "Blue Moon Romantic Comedy". Blue Moon is the name of the small town. The Library says that it is book 2 in the series, but the "Also By" page lists seven other titles, along with six other series and a set of standalones.

A capsule review: It not a will they or won't they with Beckett and Gia, it's when will it happen, and how will they handle the fallout, consequences, and repercussions. The romance level is moderate (by my own reckoning) but could be considered "mild" or "tame" by others. There are ample descriptions but they aren't vulgar. For comparison, New Beginnings was basically nil.

Beckett Pierce is the young, handsome mayor of Blue Moon. He returns from a vacation wedding to find that his associate has managed to rent out the house behind his house to a mother of two. One of the first itmes of business is cutting the ribbon at the new fitness center (renvoated by a new owner). He spots the owner (Gia/Gianna) working out the night before and is suitably impressed by her form. The next morning, he rescues her from being locked in the studio's bathroom. Beckett later discovers that she is his new tenant.

To add to the intrigue, Beckett goes to the family's farm, where the three brothers are starting a brewery, only to run into Gia and her kids. Beckett, whose father is deceased, has daddy issues and now his mother is dating someone and it's getting serious. And it turns out Gia's father is the boyfriend of Beckett's mother.

Between this and the landlord situation, the relationship is considered by the two of them to be off-limits, forbidden fruit, nothing can possibly happen ... except for every time that the two of them are alone with each other. And, of course, the whole town knows.

The first book appears to be about one brother and his new girlfriend, who quit her job and came to Blue Moon, so I wouldn't be surprised if the third book is about the third brother getting back together with his ex who is in this book but they still aren't on speaking terms.

Do I plan to read any more of this series, or even of this genre? I'm not counting on it. Maybe I'd buy a book if the author is doing a signing in my neighborhood. That said, I enjoyed the book for what it is, and I'm happy to read different things that I might not have read otherwise. And it wasn't trashy.

This was a March read even if I didn't get to post about it until April.

Paperback, if case I'm checking at the end of the year.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. The fourth book will be available by the time you see this!