Audio: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Riggs)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Ransom Riggs (2011)

[Audiobook]

(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 enjoyed this book, but I probably would've liked it had I listened to it in longer, uninterrupted sessions. I started listening as I walked to the train in the mornings and when I run errands, and that interrupted the flow a bit.

The children in Miss Peregrine's home are peculiar in the way that the children in Prof Xavier's home are peculiar. They all have some kind of mutant ability. Miss Peregrine herself is peculiar as she can turn into a bird, a peregrine, naturally, which is helpful because birds are time travelers.

The protagonist is Jacob Magellan Portman, whose late grandfather Abraham used to tell him fantastic stories running from man-eating monsters, and living with peculiar children in a secret home guarded by "a wise old bird." Jacob has nightmares about fantastic creatures and sees a psychiatrist who eventually convinces the father to take Jacob to the Welsh island of Cairnholm, so he can explore the orphanage and maybe get some answers about some letters his grandfather left.

Unfortunately, the orphanage didn't survive the war and everyone is long gone.

But, really, it isn't. The orphanage is in a loop maintained by Miss Peregrine that repeats the same 24-hour period. If you go into town from the orphanage, you'll always experience the same day (and no one there will remember the events from the previous iteration). However, if you exit by the path that Jacob entered, you will appear modern day. And of the children who leave will sooner or later revert to their actual age, which would be in their 70s.

There are dangers in the past as well as in the present, and Jacob's father doesn't believe any of it ... at first.

This was an enjoyable book to listen to. It's listed as a young adult fantasy, while the movie is listed as a dark fantasy. I guess that Tim Burton heavily accented the dangers of the villains in the story.

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.

Audio: Heir to the Empire (Zahn)

Heir to the Empire
Timothy Zahn (1991)

[Audiobook]

(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 looked for a science fiction book to listen to and the Libby app suggested Heir to the Empire. Oddly enough, for all the Star Trek books that I've read, I've not read any Star Wars books, not even Splinter of the Mind's Eye, which I had a copy of way back when. (I read a couple of juveniles that I found at a school I subbed at, but that's not really the same thing.)

And then I had to listen to it in installments because after all this time Heir to the Empire is still in demand. It introduced characters, such as Thrawn, which were picked up by the Disney franchise, even if so much else of the Expanded Universe was tossed out. This stuff existed for so many years. Had Lucas down the movies, he might've adapted it, but Disney was in charge and I guess they didn't want to credit Zahn for anything. The idea that Leia was learning to use the Force back then and that she was having twins would've made for great movies.

It was an interesting plot, and the beginning of a trilogy. There's a character that isn't used as much as he should have, so I assumed he'll be in the next book, which I might listen to.

I had to get used to hearing the voice of Han Solo speaking, but that didn't take too long. What was a problem was the Wookiee named Ralrra who had a speech impediment that allowed him to speak English (or rather, Galactic standard). His voice, with the growls, was like nails on a chalkboard. It wouldn't have been a problem reading it -- but it might be for now because it'll spur the memories.

Anyway, this was fun to listen to, and I'm glad that I did.

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.

Audio: Krampus: The Yule Lord (Brom)

Krampus: The Yule Lord
Brom (2012)

[Audiobook]

(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 pushed back because of the holidays and because some members had trouble getting a hold of the book.

We just read Slewfoot, and this book was recommended. I wasn't looking forward to it because I'm not a fan of Christmas horror stories (scary, sure, but not outright horror).

The book wasn't bad in that regard although there was one torture scene (with only humans) that was a little too intense for me. The rest was calm by comparision.

The audiobook got off to a rough start because the voice of Krampus was a little loud and irritating. (It got better, or I got used to it.) The next chapter had Jesse, the main human character, contemplating suicide, and I contemplated bailing on the book.

Krampus has been imprisoned for 500 years and is now free. He wants to get revenge on the one who imprisoned him, which is the Norse god Baldr who later took on the guise of Santa Claus. Along the way, Jesse gets hold of Santa's sack which produces any toy he thinks of, or toy versions of anything else he thinks of.

Jesse is mixed up with the drug market in his town and wants to get out of it. The General tells him he's going to keep doing his job or he'll kill his estranged wife and child. Things later go sideways when bellsnickels show up and the outlaws think that Jesse set them up with a rival gang from another town. This leads to the aforementioned torture scene.

Jesse winds up in the service of Krampus, which has the side benefit of his body healing. Krampus promises to help Jesse with his problems but he first has to help Krampus bring joy to children first and regain his title as Yule Lord.

The pace picks up as Jesse and Krampus have their redemption arcs, but Baldr gets his revenge with the help of a pair of angels.

I enjoyed the book more than I expected to, and I liked the ending better than Slewfoot. I have to say, given the previous book, I thought the ending could go another way.

I don't think I'll read the acutal book, but if I remember to reserve it at the library around October 2026, maybe I'll have it in time for Christmas.

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.

Audio: A Natural History of Dragons (Brennan)

A Natural History of Dragons
The Memoirs of Lady Trent #1
Marie Brennan (2013)

[Audiobook]

(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.)

A random audiobook to listen to while walking. It had a slow start (but then, I find most audiobooks have a "slow start" to get my attention, and I often listen to the first chapter a second time). It was enjoyable.

In this alternate history Victorian novel, dragons exist and usually keep to isolated mountains. Isabella (the Lady Trent of the subtitle) has already had a fascination with them and read any book that she could get access to, which would've been frowned upon. After Isabella meets Jacob Camherst, he courts her mostly because of her fascination with dragons instead of his wealth.

This is also the reason she manages to work her way into an expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana to study them, where she proves vital in discovering why the dragons have turned on the human population that they usually avoid.

This was a good audiobook, but, for once, I wonder if I would've enjoyed the printed version (or the ebook) because parts of the science might've been a slog to read through but a pleasure to listen to a voice reciting it. Granted, I don't know how much of it that I recall.

The book is told as a memoir of an older woman who became the foremost authority on dragons at a time that few women had such august positions. That does tell you that she will survive a long time and that there may be many more books to come.

On the other hand, this book is from 2013, and I hadn't heard of it before the library suggested it to me.

Just for giggles, I'll include what Google AI said about the book when I was looking up the publication date:

A Natural History of Dragons is the first book in Marie Brennan's Lady Trent Memoirs, a Victorian-era fantasy series about a woman who defies convention to become a renowned dragon naturalist, blending adventure, science, and fantasy as she recounts her early expeditions. The story follows the young, bookish Isabella as she pursues her passion for studying dragons, a pursuit that leads her on perilous journeys and ultimately to a career that brings the study of dragons out of myth and into modern science.

Key aspects of the book:

Genre: Science fantasy, with a tone reminiscent of Victorian natural history writing.

Protagonist: Isabella, Lady Trent, a strong-willed and intelligent woman who challenges societal expectations for women of her time.

Plot: The book details Isabella's early life, her forbidden passion for dragons, and her first expedition to study them in the wild, which is fraught with danger and discovery.

Series: It is the first book in The Lady Trent Memoirs, a series that chronicles her life and adventures.

Themes: The novel explores themes of scientific inquiry, adventure, and a woman's place in a restrictive society, all through the lens of dragon biology and behavior.


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.

Cast the First Stone (Warren) -- repost

Cast the First Stone
David James Warren (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 book club selection. I decided to make a separate entry rather than update the entry from June. That's the blog biz for you. And there was so much time between the two readings that this make sense. The last time (that I recall) reading after listening, it was closer in time and there were no other grand revelations to discuss.

I listed Cast the First Stone as one of my three picks for the book club. My other choices were Sea of Tranquility, which I read after, and Gods of Manhattan, which I haven't read. Gods was rejected mostly for being a kids book.

Overall, the book was well-received. A couple of people would be interested in the second book, or at least hearing about what happens next. It was a pretty straightforward book, so there weren't a lot of questions for discussion. Mostly, what did we think of the plot, characters, and situation. What do you think will come next?

We did compare it to other time travel books that we've read previously.

Also of interest is that David James Warren doesn't exist. There are three authors for this book: Susan May Warren, James L. Rubart, and David Curtis Warren. So I each of the three supplied one name even though Susan and David have the same last name.

It was just as enjoyable the second time around, and it's eassier to review what I missed or what happened while I was falling asleep, as opposed to rewinding when a loud truck or train passes by.

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 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.

Cast the First Stone (Warren)

Cast the First Stone
David James Warren (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!

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!

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!

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!

Suburban Hell (Kilmer)

Suburban Hell
Maureen Kilmer (2022)

(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.)

Updated 4/23/25

This was a Pandemic Book Club alternate selection. The audiobook becam available while I was reading Starter Villain. I haven't included an image because that's my rule if I only listen to it. That said, I've had the paperback from the library on my nighstand for a couple of weeks and the ebook should be available soon. Since nothing about it turned me off, I will likely read it and update this post.

A capsule review: It starts with breaking ground for a she-shed and then turns into a Poltergeist possession novel. Poltergeist is referenced in the text.

I'll keep this brief until I edit it.

In a small planned community in the suburds where everyone knows everyone, one person, Liz, suddenly starts acting weird. Amy notices and tells her concerns to Jess and Melissa. But it isn't until after an incident with some dead bunnies that it gets creepy. And then Liz tries to kill Amy in a ditch where something evil or demonic is trying to attach itself to her.

This leads to learning about demonic possession and exorcism, as well as learning more about the area the development was built upon and who lived -- and died -- there. The good guys eventually win, but there's an epilogue that unravels the entire thing.

I have to say, I hate epilogues like that. They basically say, "Nope, we failed. Evil will continue to win unless we do it all again and again.

That in itself won't stop from reading the book, but I don't think I'd do a sequel that follows the story unless I get a strong recommendation from someone I trust. As it is, this is out of my "comfort zone" for pleasure reading.

Update: Both the paperback and the ebook became available, so I was able to read the ebook. I finished it right before it was due back. (I might've turned off my wifi so the book didn't disappear for an extra 12 hours.) Reading it, I picked up on some details that I might've missed while I was listening, particularly at the beginning when I was learning who was who. Things get lost in audio, if only because I'm passively listening while I'm out walking. Also traffic and other noise sometimes interferes with it.

That said, not much changed in my enjoyment. The book was good, but the ending was not. The epilogue didn't make sense, and it undermined the resolution of the plot.

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!

Audio: New Beginnings (Masters)

New Beginnings
C.C. Masters (2018)

[No image. Audio 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 basically a random selection from the Libby app. I needed something to listen to while walking. I chose Fantasy and looked for the shorter ones. There was one before this that was shorter which might've had a good story if not for all the "spicy" bits (basically, porn, but the "acceptable" kind).

The basics of the story: Lori lives with a pack of wolves who are usually human and go to human schools and everything is pretty normal. Except that her 18th birthday has arrived, and she knows that means that every male wolf in the pack that wants to have his way with her is welcome to do so. She has no rights and no longer has any protection. She's ready to attempt the first wolf through the door but it turns out to be her mother, who helps plan an escape.

The pack follows. Several die or are deeply wounded. Lori's mother is dead, so she has to continue alone. She hides in the back of a truck and manages to travel a great distance before sneaking out.

The new town seems friendly enough, and Lori is mistaken for a girl from the private school. She manages to get a job and a room at the Y (and a shower). She plans to lay low for a while.

There's abrupt narrative shift when suddenly a man's voice takes over. He's a wolf but not from her pack. He's one of four lone wolves without a pack who sense Lori's presence and start watching her. They think that she's been sent there to spy on them as there are no active packs around.

There's a clash between the wolves but Lori becomes part of the new pack. There's a lot of talk of pack dynamics. This small pack is opening a garage inside an old firehouse. A few people know who they really are, including one group (I don't remember the name of it) that runs tests on the wolves to learn more about them. Lori becomes a part of that in exchange for protection from her old pack.

There's not too much story here, other than her becoming part of a new pack and finding a place to fit in. The title "New Beginnings" should refer to that, but it also refers to an entire series being planned. (From what I've seen online, this is Hollow Crest Wolf Pack #1, and not a prequel.)

For one thing, there's much more to learn about that organization that helps them out. For another, the private school that doesn't associate with the town is a magic school. The only of the ice cream shop who hires Lori turns out to be not nice to say the least, and the owner of other garage in town has it out for the pack. (Plus the only cop we meet is corrupt.)

There's an epilogue setting up the next book with wolves from the old pack.

It was pleasant enough to listen to while walking. I don't think I'll look for it in print any time soon. Would I listen to Book #2? maybe. It's not my usual sub-genre but there was nothing wrong with 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!

The Full Moon Coffee Shop: A Novel (Mochizuki)

The Full Moon Coffee Shop: A Novel
Mai Mochizuki
Translated by Jesse Kirkwood (2014)

(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. Both the ebook nore the audiobook had months-long waits at all three libraries, so I finally requested the hardcover. I had that in two days. It's a quick read. It's not a novella -- it was over 200 pages. The book was published in Japan, where it is set, and was translated into English by Jesse Kirkwood.

The story is broken up into three parts with an epilogue that ties it all together.

There's a coffee shop that only appears when the moon is full, and it doesn't have a fixed location. It appears to people who may be lost and need some directions. And it's run by cats with names like Mercury, Mars, and Uranus (who can appear human). It's not an actual shop, but a cart that has tables and chairs set up in front of it. If you sit at one of their tables, you can't order anything. They will bring you what you need. And they will read your star chart stating which planets are in whatever house, and what that might mean when applied to your life.

In the first part of the book, a romance screenwriter is now writing story lines for side characters in romance videogames, the kind that can conclude happily but leave the player wishing for the better character, so they keep playing. She gets a call from a producer about a script she sent. The other woman wants to meet her in person. The producer doesn't realize that the writer doesn't live in that neighborhood any more because she's downsized a bit.

The lunch meeting doesn't go well. The producer tells the writer that the network wouldn't go for it. It seems like the stuff that used to be done and doesn't reflect today's trends. The writer is shocked that the producer came all that way to deliver bad news, so she doesn't advocate for herself. The producer notices this.

The writer then finds herself in the company of the cats and learns more about herself. She makes a decision and decides to focus on making the best script for the videogame she possibly can.

In the second chapter, the producer is having a crisis. She wanted to see the writer because she remembers her as a substitute teacher from when she was a child. But the meeting went so poorly that she never had a chance to tell her. The producer has a couple of problems. One is love-related, and the other is affair-related. She has to fire an actress who had an affair with a married man because the public would be outraged and wouldn't accept her in the kind of roles that she plays.

By the time the day is over, the producer is drinking with the cats and set her straight on a thing or two.

In the third part, the fired actress gets her stars read and we find that everyone seems to be connected, going back to the same school. The substitute used to walk a group of kids to school, and all of them are important to the story and the cats. They remember every day passing the house of an old man who used to have his window open and would play piano. One day, he wasn't playing. The substitute teacher was worried and checked on him. He'd collapsed in his home. The kids got help for him.

As one might guess, things start to work out for all the people to whom the Coffee Shop appeared to. And in the epilogue -- IF YOU FOUND MY PAGE BY RANDOM CHANCE AND HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK, THERE IS A SPOILER COMING AFTER THE DASHES ---

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And in the epilogue, we find out that the old man was a symphony conductor who wasn't satisfied with his life. One night, he met the cats at the Full Moon Coffee Shop. After that, he quit conducting to focus on being the best piano player that he could be. He loved playing music for the children who walked past his house every day. And he remembered the kindness that they gave him. And as a reward, he asked the cats to look after the children and the teacher who helped him.

A touching ending that tied the book together more than I thought it would be.

I enjoyed this. This was the third hardcover book of the year, and it was only the middle of January! (Yes, I'm behind with my reviews!)

Next up, a YA book that I found a bunch of books in the series before misplacing all but the first somewhere in my house.

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

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.

A House with Good Bones (Kingfisher)

A House with Good Bones
by T. Kingfisher (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.)

I would not have expected to have read another T. Kingfisher book so soon. The last one I read, What Moves the Dead was good, not necessarily great, nor something that screamed "read more" to me. However, I needed something to listen to on my phone while I was out walking. I went to Libby for ideas. I wanted a short, fantasy audiobook, preferrably under 8 hours. Many were much longer.

Anyway, "A House With Good Bones" appeared, and I gave it a shot. It sounded good enough that I borrowed the ebook, caught up to the audio, which then got left behind.

Instead of mushrooms, this book gives us ladybugs and roses and vultures and some old magic.

Samantha Montgomery is an archaeoentomologist, someone who studies insects and other arthropods recovered from archaeological sites, usually associated with human remains and middens (aka "dunghills"). Her site is shut down but her room has been sublet, so she has no place to go except to her mother's house (which belonged to her mother before her) in North Carolina, traveling across most of the country to get there. When she gets there, things are a little strange and her mother is behaving oddly. And there are weird things about the house.

Sam thinks her mother is started to develop dementia or something similar. She doesn't understand why the interior of the house was repainted ecrue or why there's a portrait of a Confederate wedding hanging in the hall.

And, more weird, there are no insects in the yard on the rose bushes. But there is a sudden infestation of lady bugs that she can't explain. And then there's the portrait that shows what clearly seems to be a child's hand coming out of the ground beneath one of the rose bushes.

Mom's not crazy, and grandma's not gone. Others on the lane know that there's something wrong with the house.

If I have a quibble, it's with the climax of the book, which takes all the action ... somewhere else. I'm not exactly sure where it was or how any of the vultures managed to find their way there. I understand that they didn't need realism at this particular point, but the book went to extraordinary lengths to make the creepy, unimaginable into real, believable things. This was a little disappointing and could've been closer to home, as it were.

One last side note: I have to say that "a house with good bones" isn't a common expression in the Northeast, USA. At least, I don't think it is. It's not one that I've heard. The only other reference I have is the song "The Bones" by Maren Morris, where she sings "the house won't fall when the bones are good", which made me wonder right from the start if the house was going to fall. (Oddly, I assumed that the song was talking about a personal relationship with two people, not the actual structure of their dwelling, allegorically speaking.)

This book was written before "What Moves the Dead" and contains a preview for it at the end of the book.

I enjoyed this, both in audio and ebook, although I abandoned the audio once I caught up reading.

The Shadow Glass (Winning)

The Shadow Glass
by Josh Winning (2022)

(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 pick. It received a mixed but mostly positive reviews.

For fans of the Dark Crystal or Labyrinth (I've seen the first, not the second), imagine a similar film that was created by a one-time director named Bob Corman that defined a generation and spawned a lot of ancillary material. This is the world of the movie The Shadow Glass, which created a word known as "Iri", pronounced "eerie".

Jack is the son of Bob, who recently passed away. Jack was estranged from his father, and now in financial straits, he looks to sell off some of his father's things. He winds up encountering creatures from Iri in his father's attic, which seek the Shadow Glass. Bad times have come to Iri and they have until the next full moon to set things right.

Jack is a non-believer, but Toby is a fanatic, knowing everything about Iri. He tries to help Jack.

There's a quest to find the Shadow Glass, the actual prompt from the movie, but it's rumored to have been broken up in pieces for storage. (In the end, this seems odd just because the pieces themselves don't seem to be all that big.)

To antagonize Jack, there is someone who hates him and Bob but loves Iri as it was in the film and nothing more. He winds up teaming up with the villains in the piece just so he can get closer to Iri.

The book was enjoyable, but there wasn't much of a payoff to it. What is this big moment on Iri? We never really find out. How will the Shadow Glass help? No clear idea what it will do (or did). And Jack gets faced with a false choice out of nowhere at what he wants to do.

One other point: this is not a book for young children. Jack gets his finger bitten off. It doesn't grow back. It isn't fixed by magic. There isn't a reset at the end of the story. Likewise, a movie studio guard gets swallowed whole and his uniform is spit out. It has its creepy moments.

I don't have much to complain about, but it wasn't the greatest book either. On Good Reads, I'm likely to give it four stars just because of the mediocre things that I've given three stars to.

Once again, this was a book that I listened to while walking concurrently with reading. Some of the script and transcript reading didn't sound well in audio. I also didn't finish the audio because I got to the end of the ebook first.

Signal Fires ( Shapiro)

Signal Fires
by Dani Shapiro (2022)

(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 pick. It received a mixed reviews.

A car accident and its subsequent coverup affect the lives of a family of four -- and likely the family of the deceased -- as well as a family that doesn't even move into the neighborhood for years.

The book opens talking about all the possible future of Misty Zimmerman should see survive this night. I thought we'd see some of this. We did not. The girl who dies is pretty much an afterthought except for when (some characters believe) she extends her influence from the beyond, enamating from the tree under which she died.

The book then jumps to the 21st century. And then back to 1999, and 2010, and all over the place. I was curious if this book would work better as a linear narrative, not that I would read a copy of it should someone present me with one, but it sees like the structure and the feelings replaced the plot of the novel, as little of it as it was.

Biggest complaint among the club members is that not one of the characters were likable, least of all the fellow you weren't supposed to like, the only one always referenced by his last name, Shenkmen. The mothers in the book get short shrift. They get pushed aside pretty quickly without much to do.

Shenkman is not a great father, and it doesn't help that he doesn't know how to get through to Waldo, who appears to be on the spectrum, which may have been a result of the umbilical cord being wrapped about his neck during his delivery on his kitchen floor by Dr. Ben from across the street. Note that after his birth, the two families apparently never spoke to each other again despite living across from each other for a decade.

After Waldo runs away and gets rescued, Waldo explains about super galactic clusters. Rather than getting upset again, Shenkman has a change and calmly asks Waldo to tell him more about the super clusters. In any other novel, this would be a significant turning point. Instead, ten years later, Shenkman, suddenly a widower, is the one reaching out to Waldo (not that Waldo ever reached out to his dad), and Waldo is basically a little shit. If the point was too little, too late, something should've been said ten years earlier that Waldo was going to resent his father forever.

Instead, Waldo finds friendship in the man who delivered him, who is the same man who covered up a crime in 1985. He's not a particularly good man, especially when compared to Shenkman. Again, basically no one was found to be a likable person in this book.

It was interesting but there was much to it. Just a lot of jumping around, two off-screen deaths, and an affair that gets forgiven (offscreen) and leads to a confession at an AA meeting without any consequences. The one thing that everyone appreciated was that it did take the Covid shutdown into account in its timeline and it affected the characters. Needlessly inserting politics wasn't appreciated.

This was another book that I listened to (read by the author) and read concurrently. This may become a thing for me.

I also write Fiction! You can now order my newest book Burke's Lore, Briefs: A Heavenly Date / My Damned Best Friend, written by Christopher J. Burke, which contains the aforementioned story and a bonus story. Order the softcover or ebook at Amazon.
Also, check out In A Flash 2020, by Christopher J. Burke for 20 great flash fiction stories, perfectly sized for your train rides. Available in softcover or ebook at Amazon. If you enjoy it, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon or on Good Reads.

Gods of Manhattan -- audiobook (Mebus)

Gods of Manhattan
by Scott Mebus (2008)

[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.)

This title was suggested by the public library -- I forget if it was Brookly or NYPL. I was looking for another book to listen to while I was walking. I didn't realize that it was so old (or that, I just learned, it's part of a series). Once again, I listened to the first chapter twice just to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

Interesting book about a secret world of Manhatta occupying the same space as Manhattan and filled with people, "Gods", from New York's past, including Lenape Indians. It's listed on Wikipedia as a children's novel, but it's about 272 pages long. I guess that's on par with early Harry Potter books though.

I enjoyed it and plan on reading it in the new year. Perhaps I'll suggest it to my book club, so two birds, one stone.

This is a place-holder entry. I'll write the full one when I read the book. That's my new rule for the blog. I can make up and change my own rules.

Bedeviled Eggs (Childs)

Bedeviled Eggs
Laura Childs (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 is the third in the series that started with my pandemic book club selection. THe first one was interesting enoug that iI thought I'd try a couple more. This book was not available as an ebook from any of three NYC library systems, so I had to get it as a paperback, just as I did with the previous two. I also got the audiobook, as I did with the last two. It's good to listen to when I'm out for my walks.

The usual gang is back. Szanne, the recent widow, and her new boyfriend, Sam the doctor, along with Petra, whose husband is in a medical facility, and Toni, who is still married to Junior. Junior proves to be little more useful in this book. The relationship stays on-again-off-again. I'd imagined Junior as a cross between Jethro Clampett and Max Baer, Jr (who played Jethro, but could play parts that were more physical). This book describes him as a cross between Fonzie and Homer Simpson. I'm not sure I can switch that description into my head.

As luck would have it, this was another Halloween book, taking place just before the holiday and Election Day.

I enjoyed the book, because I'm getting to know the characters, but this one seemed to end abruptly. The murderer is caught but then it's over without any loose ends tied up.

The book opens wtih a Read Dating night at the Cackleberry Club, a take on Speed Dating where each person brings a favorite book. An argument ensues with one woman and a mayoral candidate about pieces of his mother's estate which apparently she was talked into donating. The moment is diffused, but afterward, as he and Suzanne walk out the back door, someone in the field shoots him between the eyes with a crossbow. More bolts him the building and the women hide inside until the police come. We meet a new, young deputy who searches the field. A couple days later, Suzanne and Petra find him deceased.

There are a couple of contrivances here. The book starts with a historical quilt trail, where places with a significant history hand up a quilt square (made of wood) and folks follow the trail to visit these places. Petra and Suzanne drive the trail, as night is falling, of course, and think they're lost. They pull over, found the police cruiser and then the deputy handcuffed to the tree and shot. Suzanne finds a hurt dog on the way home and calls Sam the doctor to come over and take a look.

Since it's almost Halloween, as well as Election Day, the Cackleberry Club is hosting a Halloween event. A guy owes Junior a favor and he can get them all the pumpkins they need for cheap. Once again, they go out at night, using a hand-drawn map of Junior's. They get lost again, and stumble upon a dog-fighting kennel, and are chased to a canoe to escape. Now we know what happened to the first dog.

And then there's a prison break that causes the Reverend Yoder to have a heart attack while his spreading the alarm. The ladies save his life, and he'll recover.

And then it all comes to a head at the Halloween event. Junior gets a good showing here, and Doogie lets him because Doogie might not trust himself at this point.

And it's over.

For all the talk of the election, we never make it to Election Day. The crooked mayor is now unopposed, so he's a shoe-in, but Doogie was afraid of his chances if he didn't close either of the murders. He got the guy to confess (off-camera, in the car) to the first killing, but not the deputy. But Doogie will work on it. No mention that, oh, there's a gun in the field behind the restaurant and it might be the same one that killed the deputy. No reelection celebration after closing the book on the murders. No followup on the prison break (other than they were rounded up) or any fallout from the dog fights. So while I enjoyed the book, it could've used a denouemnent of a half-dozen pages of so.

The other nit to pick is that Suzanne finds a clue that Doogie missed. A post-it that says only "Tortuga" on it. Now forget that this is the kind of clue you only find in Scooby Doo or other contrived mysteries, but the number of people who knew that it means "turtle" in Spanish was astounding, considering that no one has spoken Spanish yet. There was scarce mention of the island, which if you're aware of popular culture, Tortuga plays an important part in Pirates of the Caribbean, and is an actual place. This allows for a misdirection because someone happens to know that another character has a turtle tattoo. Without a spoiler, there is no reason why the word "Tortuga" on the note shouldn't have been followed by another word, except that then it would identify what it meant 50 pages too soon.

Once again, the dual media has its advantages, where I catch something in one that I miss in the other.

Cult Classic (Crosley)

Cult Classic
by Sloane Crosley (2022)

(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

We haven't had the zoom call yet, but advance word in the messenger chat is that it's a thumbs down, all around.

I don't know what to expect from many club books because I tend to read them electronically, so I don't have the back cover like I used to have. I did read a synopsis on Good Reads when I voted (and I think I voted for this book -- I honestly don't remember), but I'd forgotten whatever it said.

Basically, think of me as a scifi/fantasy guy who watches a lot of only movies, a lot of "classics", some of which have a "cult" following. So I didn't know what this was really going to be about. About nothing I would've expected.

The prologue goes on about ghosts waiting their turn, winning a lottery, to return to Earth for three minutes, and wait could they do with those three minutes. This has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the book, unless it's supposed to be an allegory for some of the old boyfriends she runs into.

Next up is a brutal Chapter 1 that runs for about 45 pages when every other chapter is a more reasonable 10-15. Within each chapter, the narrator, Lola, goes off on many tangents, digresses about whatever, recalls weird events and comes back to the present. It's lmost like there's a string of short stories with the most tenuous of connections holding them together that gets woven into the story. The story itself is one that will leave you wondering for about 80% of the book what they actual story is.

The book isn't terrible. It's just not good.

Lola used to write for Psychology Today, working for Clive, who was a typical cheap rich person. In the beginning of the book, in that long into or in the prologue, we discover that Clive is dead. The story that is told is about when he was alive, so I'd forgotten that he was dead by the end of the book. One of those things. Actually, it's probably better that she was upfront about it, otherwise, the ending might've seem too convenient.

Lola's friend is named Vadis, but I found from the audiobook, it's pronounced "Voddy", rhymes with "Toddy". And the author reads the book, so she should know. (Of course, she should be more interested in what she's reading, too. Sometimes, she sounds like it's dull.) Vadis and Clive bring Lola to an old synagouge where they have a cult of some kind working. Vadis knows that Lola is having second thoughts about her engagement to "Boots", who I kept forgeting was her finance and kept thinking was her cat.

Lola had run into two of her ex-boyfriends in the past couple of nights. Clive says that that's because he is making Lola a test case for his new program. Each night she'll walk around Chinatown and she'll attract one of her former boyfriends and see if she still has any feelings for them. She can work through her anxieties to see if she really wants to marry Boots.

Lola doesn't buy into this nonsense, and she's the one calling it a cult. Clive is definitely the spiritual leader, and everyone is working for him for free.

After another boyfriend appears, Lola starts to believe that there might be something to it, so she keeps returning to the synagouge (Clive has a weird name for it based on a weird old painting), and answering questions.

The story doesn't actually present itself until it's nearly over. Basically, there's a twist, but it's not like there was much to twist in the first place.

Is this the worst book the book club has covered? Far from it. Was it good? Not really.

UPDATE: General consensus from the Zoom call was the book was not well-liked and the protagonist was not well-liked. (Note that the participants were majority female, 5-3.)