A Minute to Midnight (Atlee Pine #2)

A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci is the second book in his mystery thriller series featuring FBI agent Atlee Pine.

After intercepting a kidnapper in the process of stealing a teenage girl, and beating him silly, Atlee has been offered some time off. Since Pine is not much for being idle, she decides to work on her sister's cold case.

Pine and her assistant, Carol Blum, head to Andersonville, Georgia. Atlee has not been there for nearly 30 years. As a child, a man came into her room and kidnapped her twin sister Mercy, while leaving Atlee in the hospital with a massive head injury. There has been no sight of Mercy since that night.

Atlee plans to interview her parents friends and anyone else who is still around and may remember something. But her visit seems to have set someone off - as she practically trips over a dead body in town.

Baldacci writes great mysteries and thrillers. Atlee Pine is a determined, focused FBI agent who will never stop looking for her sister.

Baldacci, David. (2019). A Minute to Midnight. NY: Grand Central Publishing.

Treecat Wars (Stephanie Harrington #3)

Treecat Wars by David Weber and Jane Lindskold is the third book in the Stephanie Harrington science fiction series set in the Star Kingdom of Manticore.

Stephanie is the youngest member of the Sphynx Forestry Service, in a position created for her. Now she has been given the opportunity to visit the capital planet of Manticore to attend a training. She has to decide if she should go, and if Lionheart her treecat, can survive a trip off the planet - leaving everything he knows.

Due to a rough fire season, many treecats have lost their habitats. Those left, many ranged bands of destroyed clans, are trying to find a place to settle before the winter sets in. But some other clans, who are afraid of having enough for their own, are wary of the strangers.

David Weber and Jane Linskold seem to have abandoned this series. Only tree books on the early years of human - treecat relations. This makes me sad.

Weber, David and Jane Lindskold. (2013). Treecat Wars. NY: Baen.

Fire Season (Stephanie Harrington #2)

Fire Season by David Weber and Jane Lindskold is the second book in the Stephanie Harrington science fiction series.

Stephanie Harrington was one of the first humans to encounter a treecat - a six legged feline native to the planet Sphynx. Treecats communicate telepathically and bond for life. Now that Stephanie and Lionheart are inseparable their adventure continues.

The Crown of Manticore, the planet that governs the system that includes Sphynx, has approved a study to learn about treecats. To determine if they are a sentient race, and as such, entitled to the rights of people.

A team of six arrives, some with spouses/partners/teenage children, to work with the Sphynx Forestry Service to study treecats without disturbing them. Stephanie will be keeping an eye on them to help protect Lionheart and his clan.

Then the team goes off on its own to study a list of approved sites that treecats have abandoned. And becomes lost in the forest after their aircar becomes mired in sinking mud.

The missing study combined with the higher than average fires in the late Fall season, will keep Stephanie and her friends in high demand, and in high danger.

Weber's young adult series to introduce the history of treecat - human relationships is a great read for fans of the Honor Harrington series as well as fans of science fiction and animals.

Weber, David and Jane Lindskold. (2012). Fire Season. NY: Bean.

The Starless Sea

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern is an amazing book! Go buy a copy today, it is that good. :-)

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a grad student in Vermont. He is studying stories, in the form of video games. Since the semester has not officially begun, he has been roaming the fiction section of the university library.

He stumbles across an old book, the spine warn to the point of being blank. Once he starts reading it, he is shocked to find himself, as a child, in one of the stories.

He starts a quest to find more information. Where did the book come from, are there others? He researches some of the symbols used in the other stories and finds a photo of a masquerade ball from the previous year. More searching reveals that this year's masquerade is next weekend.

I cannot say more without spoilers. Fans of The Night Circus, will not be disappointed. There are stories within stories in a magical way that will lead readers to long for a visit. While my favorite books at any given moment depends upon so much, I feel it is safe to say that whatever Erin Morgenstern writes will be at the top of the list!

Morgenstern, Erin. (2019). The Starless Sea. New York: Doubleday.

We Are Okay

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour is a beautiful book about healing and the meaning of family.

Marin has not spoken to anyone from home since she left for college four months ago. Her best friend still texts her and is coming to visit in a few days in spite of the silence.

Marin grew up with her grandfather from the age of three when her mother died. When tragedy strikes again, she leave San Francisco for New York early. She has told on one at school about her past and has not really made any friends other than her roommate.

Now Mabel will be there any moment. And Marin will have to face what happened.

LaCour tells this beautiful, heartbreaking story with flashbacks into Marin's life growing up. I have loved LaCour's books since I read Everything Leads to You in 2015. She is an author not to be missed. Read this today.

LaCour, Nina. (2017). We Are Okay. New York: Dutton Books.

A Beautiful Friendship (Stephanie Harrington #1)

A Beautiful Friendship by David Weber is the first book featuring Stephanie Harrington, an ancestor of the main character Honor Harrington in my favorite space opera series.

Stephanie and her parents have moved to the planet Sphinx in the Manticore Kingdom. And she feels trapped. Their house is in the middle of nowhere and the other young people in town are not for her.

Dr. Richard Harrington is a xeno-veterinarian, specializing in animals local to the planet. Dr. Marjorie Harrington is a botanic geneticist and biologist. They are both very busy and Stephanie is not to go exploring in the wild without one of them. There are hexapumas afterall!

In her boredom, Stephanie notices a mystery. Someone is stealing the celery out many gardens around the settlements. The instances are too far apart to be a prank, but infrared cameras have not spotted anything. Stephanie is going to catch a celery thief - she is sure it is some native animal.

Climbs Quickly is a scout for his clan of treecats. Treecats, like most mammals native to Sphinx, have six legs: two true hands, hand-feet and feet. They are a sentient race who communicate through telepathy.

Weber has created this wonderful backstory, his first books for young adults. It is a treat seeing where the first human and the treecat met.

Weber, David. (2011). A Beautiful Friendship. New York: Baen.

The World That We Knew

The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman is a beautiful tale of escape during World War II.

In Berlin in 1941, three women must act to survive.

Hanni Kohn know she must send her daughter Lea away. She herself cannot go because of her ailing mother. But Lea must be given a chance to survive what is obviously coming at the Jews of Germany.

When Hanni goes to the rabbi to beg him to make a golem to protect Lea, she is turned away. But not before his daughter - who knows the way as well as the rabbi - hears her. Ettie agrees to do it, for enough money for her and her younger sister to get out of Germany.

This is a beautiful story of hope and strong women. Hoffman is a masterful storyteller.

Hoffman, Alice. (2019). The World That We Knew. New York: Simon & Schuster.

To Be Taught if Fortunate (Wayfarers Prequel)

To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers is a prequel novella to her Wayfarers science fiction series.

Years and years before the current Wayfarers series takes place, this novella is written by one of the early explorers of far space from Earth. It is a journal sent back to Earth from her both about their journey and what she hope has been happening on Earth in the 50 years she slept in transit.

Ariadne O'Neill and her three crewmates are on an expedition to survey four possibly habitable worlds. Her journal chronicles both the wonder and the danger of their mission as well as hope that someone on Earth is listening.

Chambers has written a beautiful novella of early space flight and exploration in her universe. It is all of the things one would think an explorer who will likely never see Earth again would want us to learn from her.

Chambers, Becky. (2019). To Be Taught if Fortunate. New York: Harper Voyager.

The Painter

The Painter by Peter Heller is a book of pain, loss and art.

Jim Stegner is an artist who lives in the desert in rural Colorado. Though he paints what he wants, sometimes without conscious thought, he is a popular painter in the Santa Fe scene and his agent loves him. His art is how he processes emotions and the pain in which he lives.

Jim's other passion is fishing. He is an avid fly-fisher on all of the rivers of the Southwest. 

One day while leaving the river, he stops a man from beating his horse. Now Jim has the horse and the man and his friends are on a mission to make Jim's life miserable. 

The Painter is the story of a man who is trying to live a quite life in the middle of nowhere, a man whom violence seems to follow. This is a compelling and haunting tale that will stick with you far after you return it to the shelf. Heller has a way with words that will make you a loyal fan after the first chapter in any of his novels.

Heller, Peter. (2014). The Painter. New York: Knopf.

Ask Again, Yes

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane begins with two New York Police officers new to the beat in 1973 and follows their families for the next few decades.

Francis Gleeson, born ins Galway, Ireland and his partner Brian Stanhope, who is engaged to a young woman from Dublin are assigned to the Bronx. After working for a while, they each get the idea to move to a suburb where their future families can grow up in a quiet neighborhood. This will also let them get away from work more fully that if they lived close to their work neighborhood.

Francis and Lena Gleeson move to a house in a town where, at first Lena feels isolated. She is so far from her family in Brooklyn. The only people she speaks to in the day are the older couple next door. Then the wife dies, and the man moves away.

After a while someone buys the house. Brian and Anne Stanhope move in next door. Lena is thrilled for someone to speak to – someone who is about to have a child, while Lena is about to have her third. But Anne is standoffish and does not want to become friends. Even though their husbands used to be partners, there is little interaction between the two houses.

Then Anne’s son Peter and Lena’s daughter Kate become best friends. This brings the families into closer proximity, if not better relationships. This proximity leads to a startling event that changes the lives of everyone in the two families.

Keane has beautifully written a story of two intertwined families. This is not your typical story path. This is a great read. Such a wonderful book that looks a life and what it means. Read this today.

Keane, Mary Beth. (2019). Ask Again, Yes. NY: Scribner.

Paradise Valley (Cassie Dewell #3)

Paradise Valley by C.J. Box is the third book in his series featuring Cassie Dewell, a police investigator working (currently) in Bakken County, North Dakota. In this case, two of Cassie’s previous cases will collide, endangering a boy she cares about and involving a man she has been hunting for years.

Dewell, with the aid of an FBI task force and a district attorney from the East Coast, has set a trap for a serial killer who uses the highways as his hiding place. The Lizard King has been at large for years. He has been questioned twice but has not been arrested for the suspected murder of dozens of women across the country. He is a long-haul trucker working on his own and traceable by no one.

Over the years, Dewell has posted jobs on a board for truckers looking to fill empty space as they drive. The only way the independent drivers make money is by hauling a full load. Now, finally, the man for whom she has been searching has agreed to pick up a load. Better yet, they have surveillance of him picking up a woman as a truck stop – a woman who did not leave the truck before the truck drove away. If they time it right, they can catch him and save the woman.

On the same day as the setup, Kyle Westergaard, age 15, disappears along with his best friend. Did they run away like a note says or did something else happen.

Dewell is a character who follows her instincts, even when logic dictates otherwise. Read this series for an enjoyable mystery / suspense series.

Box, C.J. (2017). Paradise Valley. NY: Minotaur.

Badlands (Cassie Dewell #2)

Badlands by C.J. Box is the second book in her Cassie Dewell series. Cassie is a police investigator in Helena, Montana. Though she just applied for a job in the booming oil community of Grimstad, North Dakota. The town of Grimstad is expanding due to oil fracking. The Sherriff’s department has added a couple dozen deputies. Dewell is interested in their head investigator, the highest detective position.

Kyle Westergaard, age 12, has a newspaper route. His mom says she will drive him, but she is too tired in the mornings from her own job. Kyle uses his bike. He rides miles every morning even in the now freezing weather. One morning, while taking a short cut through a new housing development, Kyle watches a car chase that ends with a crash. When a police car’s lights can be seen in the distance, the two men in the second car stop searching the wreck and flee. Kyle picks up a bundle he saw fly away from the car.

Dewell’s first case in Grimstad will come down to a witness no one thinks to speak to because no one knows he was there.

Box writes crime suspense that is fun to read. Cassie Dewell is a bit of a mess but trying her best. She learned from someone who cause almost as many problems as he solved.

Box, C. J. (2015). Badlands. NY: Minotaur.

The Highway (Cody Hody #1 / Cassie Dewell #1)

The Highway by C.J. Box is a novel of suspense that will haunt you. It is both the second book in the Cody Hoyt series and the first in the Cassie Dewell series – two police detectives in Helena, Montana. An experienced investigator who has been known to break the rules and a new investigator just starting out.

Teens Danielle and Gracie Sullivan are driving to their father’s house for Thanksgiving. But when Gracie (the younger and more responsible sister) falls asleep, Danielle turns north toward Helena to see Justin Hoyt. They met the previous summer when they were all on an adventure in Yellowstone that was a bit too interesting. Justin’s dad, Cody, ultimately saved the girls from a serial killer. Danielle and Justin have been dating, long-distance, since then. Danielle knows Justin wants to break up but is sure in person she can convince him not to.

 When the young women stop texting Justin, he gets worried and calls his dad to look for them. The main highway was blocked after an accident and he told them to go through the corner of Yellowstone. He knows there is no cell service for part of it, but too much time has passed. Hoyt is in no condition to help out, but will do anything for his son, or for Gracie. With the help of his new partner, Cassie Dewell, he starts making phone calls.

In the course of her research, Dewell finds a patter of young women disappearing in the area. The FBI has put together a task for on a possible long-haul trucker / serial killer who operates in the area.

Box has written a story that will keep readers on edge until the last page. If you like suspense with a bit of creepy this is the book for you.

Box, C.J. (2013). The Highway. NY: Minotaur Books.

The Dog Stars

The Dogs Stars by Peter Heller is a dystopian story about humanity post-sickness and what people will do to survive.

Hig and Bangley now live at a small airport near Denver. Hig is a pilot who flies over the wide fields surrounding their home to make sure no other survivors are trying to sneak up on them. Hig thinks of Bangley as a gun-happy survivalist who, for some reason, thinks they work well together. Their uneasy friendship gives them both a better chance of survival. 

It has been nine years since the sickness and then the bloods that killed most people. In the first couple of years after they found the airport, Hig and Bangley had to defend themselves against armed groups a few times. Now Hig sleeps, not in the house with electricity, but being a berm in the field with his dog Jasper. The house with the lights is the easy target that allows them time to react to anyone sneaking in. 

For as long as the fuel lasts, Hig will fly. He figures he has a while left before the rest goes bad, and then there are additives to extend its life. He uses the plane, not only to scout, but to visit the Mennonite families with the blood disease to trade vegetables, and to the highway as a treat to pick up cases of soda from a crashed semi on the highway.

But Hig cannot get out of his head that twice he has heard a radio response from Grand Junction.  

Heller has written an award-winning novel of dystopian fiction. This book will keep readers on edge, worried about what will happen to Hig. And Heller’s writing is so beautiful. Read all of his books. 

Heller, Peter. (2012). The Dog Stars. NY: Alfred A Knopf.

Back of Beyond (Cody Hoyt #1)

Back of Beyond by C.J. Box is the first book in his mystery / suspense series featuring Police Inspector Cody Hoyt. Hoyt is likely in his last chance job as a police officer. He is brilliant at solving crimes when he puts his mind to it, but his mind is often more focused on drinking, or not drinking.

When the Helena dispatcher sends Cody to a remove mountain cabin where hikers found a half-burned building with what looks like a person, Cody is afraid he knows who lives there. It is his AA sponsor and friend. While the scene looks like an accidental fire, he is convinced it was murder.

Once he tries to convince his fellow detective it is a crime scene, the forensic team goes to work. One clue, the website last up on the man’s computer, leads Cody to decide that the killer is using an outdoor, five-day horseback through Yellowstone to evade the investigation. Unfortunately, if he is right, it may be the same trip Hoyt’s son is on with his potential new stepfather.

Box has created a terribly flawed cop for whom readers will still root. And a secondary character who readers will be glad to see again in the next book, fourteen-year-old Gracie Sullivan who is on the adventure with her sister and father. The details can be a bit gruesome, but this is a great mystery for anyone who likes the outdoors. Readers of Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series will enjoy the scenery. 

Box, C.J. (2011). Back of Beyond. NY: Minotaur Books.

Celine: A Novel

Celine by Peter Heller is a lovingly written mystery.

Celine is a private investigator and artist living in Brooklyn. She is a mother and grandmother who only takes cases about missing people. Between cases she creates art with found things and dodges her boyfriend’s attempts to make her eat vegetables.

When a fellow alumna reads an article about Celine in their college magazine, she thinks she has found the women to help her find her missing father. Gabriela’s father was a photojournalist who when missing or was killed by a grizzly bear on the Montana / Wyoming border. Celine and her boyfriend, Pete, fly across the country, borrow a truck with a camper, and try to follow the man’s footsteps.

Interspersed with flashbacks to Celine’s childhood, told sometimes by her and sometimes by an adult son who has great affection for his mother, this mystery is about family, loss and hope. Heller is an adventure writer for outdoor magazines, a nonfiction and fiction author, along with being a poet. The combination leads to wonderful books in which readers sometimes pause to marvel in the beauty of the word choices while still inhaling the story. Celine is especially moving as the main character is based on his own mother. If you only ready one book this year, make it this one. If you read a lot, buy it so you can read it again later!

Heller, Peter. (2017). Celine: A Novel. NY: Knopf.

Long Road to Mercy (Atlee Pine #1)

Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci is the first book in the Atlee Pine mystery/thriller series. Pine if an FBI agent in the Southwest. She became an agent with the idea that it would help her eventually find out what happened to her twin sister Mercy, who was kidnapped when they were six. Her life has been devoted to getting strong and smart to make up for not being able to save Mercy.

Atlee Pine does not like crowds. In fact, she has gotten herself assigned to a one-agent FBI office at the edge of the Grand Canyon. The only person she works with is her secretary Carol Blum.

When a man disappears from a Canyon mule expedition, Pine is called to investigate. Little does she know that this man is the key to an international conspiracy to usurp the pecking order of global leaders. All she knows at first is someone gut a donkey and the man who is missing is either a sick bastard or was kidnapped.

Baldacci has written a book that crosses many genres: mystery, thriller, suspense and espionage. Atlee Pine is a focused, strong character who is understandably obsessed with finding her sister. His books are always great for a fast, thrilling read.

Baldacci, David. (2019). Long Road to Mercy. New York: Grand Central Publishing.

The New Girl (Gabriel Allon #19)

The New Girl by Daniel Silva is the nineteenth book in his Gabriel Allon espionage series. If you have not started this series yet, start today!

 At an exclusive private school in Switzerland, a girl begins the term late. She is quite and a bit different than the other students. First of all she has her own security even though the school has its own – many children of important people attend this school. Secondly, one teacher thinks the girl is not who she says she is; not even her name seems real. Then the girl is gone.

 Sarah Bancroft manages the Nadia Al-Bacari collection at the Met. When a wealthy collector she has worked with reaches out to her it is not to buy a painting. It is to set up a meeting between him and Gabriel Allon. Somehow Khalid ben Mohammed, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, knows that Sarah is former FBI and has worked with Allon. KBM is desperate to meet a man whom most in Saudia Arabia think is the devil. Because his daughter has been kidnapped.

 Silva is a masterful storyteller. Readers are hooked by the end of the first paragraph. This is on of the best fiction series, hands down.

 Silva, Daniel. (2019). The New Girl. New York: Harper.

The River

The River by Peter Heller is a peaceful boat ride through a series of lakes...until it is not.

Wynn and Jack have one month to traverse a series of lakes and a river ending in Hudson Bay in northern Canada. They both love to fish, canoe, and be in nature. They have allotted themselves more time than it should take so they can enjoy the peace and solitude.

During a foggy evening, they hear a man and woman arguing from the shore. They give the couple a wide berth so not to intrude.

The next day, in the next lake, the wind shifts and Wynn and Jack smell smoke. Jack climbs a tree and sees a huge forest fire racing toward them. No more taking their time.

They agree to warn the couple they passed, but when they go back to the previous lake they cannot find anyone. The make up the lost miles and camp at the top of the first set of falls on the river.

Before they carry their boat and supplies down the trail to the bottom of the large waterfall, they see a man in a canoe. He is alone and looks lost. When they call him over - saving him from going over the falls - he is disoriented and confused. Is he the same man from the couple? If so, where is his wife?

Heller writes beautifully. His story flows like a river. He makes readers want to paddle this set of lakes even in spite of the second half of the book where there may be a killer and there is definitely a huge forest fire coming for the characters. This is a great read that will fly by but and stick with you for a while. A perfect summer read.

Heller, Peter. (2019). The River. New York: Alfred A Knopf.

Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II

Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff is the tale of a series of plane crashes in Greenland near the end of WWII. As well as the current day plan to recover a Grumman Duck amphibious airplane lost on the ice with three Coast Guard men.

In WWII the United States had bases in Greenland, both to keep the Atlantic free of German boats and U-boats and used as a stop while ferrying planes to England. When a cargo plane goes down on the Ice Cap, a few search planes are sent to look for it. These planes include a B-17 bomber with 9 on board. Instead of finding sign of the cargo plane, the B-17 crashes. What follows is a series of rescue attempts in a climate not made for man or machine.

The B-17 will not be the last plane to crash in the Winter of 1942-1943. An amphibious plane called the Grumman Duck will also become lost – after one successful rescue of part of the crew of the B-17.

In 2012 an expedition back to Greenland was approved by the Coast Guard to find the Duck and bring back the missing men – the only MIA Coast Guardsmen unaccounted for. Zuckoff attaches himself to the expedition, becoming a subject in his own book.

The tale of the men trapped on the Ice Cap is one with the suspense of how and if they will survive. Zuckoff’s nonfiction tale flows with the narration of a good novel. If you are a fan of WWII, planes, extreme lands or daring rescues, this is the book for you!

Zuckoff, Mitchell (2014). Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II. New York: Harper.

The Stories You Tell (Roxane Weary #3)

The Stories You Tell by Kristen Lepionka is the third book in her mystery series featuring private detective Roxane Weary.

When Roxane’s brother calls her in the middle of the night, she is not too surprised. They are both night owls. He tells Roxane that an ex-co-worker he has not seen in a couple of years just came to his apartment. She was clearly scared. She borrowed his phone and then ran out the door. He wants to hire Roxane to make sure Addison is okay.

When Roxane starts to look for Addison Stowe, she finds that the place she works – a seedy club called Nightshade – is mysteriously closed. Her roommate has not seen her but thinks she can home after seeing Roxane’s brother, and Addison’s best friends have not heard from her.

Lepionka weaves a mystery about the people we are in real life versus the online presence we present to the world. Her characters are wonderful and flawed. Her storytelling is addictive, and her mysteries are well thought out. These are great summer reads. Readers will follow Weary on all of her future adventures.

Lepionka, Kristen. (2019). The Stories You Tell. New York: Minotaur.

The Huntress

The Huntress by Kate Quinn is a brilliant novel of espionage, war, and revenge.

Ian Graham was a war correspondent during WWII. After the war he has become a Nazi hunter. All of the people who took part in the genocide, who need to be held accountable even though many are tired of hearing about the war, still need to face a court room. Graham has found a few, with the help of his partner Tony – a US soldier from Queens, New York.

The person Ian needs to find, known as the Huntress, or die Jägerin, is a woman who murdered many during the war. Including Ian’s brother, a pilot who escaped a German POW camp. Nina Markova, a Russian pilot from Siberia, was with Ian’s brother when he was killed. She has sworn to hunt down the Huntress and avenge his death. No one has heard a word about the Huntress since the end of the war.

Jordan McBride is a high school student and photographer. She dreams of being a photojournalist. She lives in Boston with her father who owns an antique store. When her father brings a woman he is interested in home to dinner, Jordan is happy for him. But there is something unsettling about the soft-spoken, German-accented woman.

Quinn is an amazing storyteller. If you have not read this book, buy it today! Go now! The story, the twists and turns, the characters, are all crafted into the best book you will read this year.

Quinn, Kate. (2019). The Huntress. New York: William Morrow.

What You Want to See (Roxane Weary #2)

What You Want to See by Kristen Lepionka is the second book in her mystery series featuring Roxane Weary, PI.

Weary is hired by Arthur Ungless to follow his fiancé. He is sure she is having an affair. After a week of following Marin with no sign of infidelity, Arthur's check bounces.

The first night Roxane is not following her, Marin is killed on the street. The police think it is an open and shut case - the fiancé must have done it.

Weary is sure that Arthur is innocent. He promises to get her the money if she will help him find out who killed Marin.

Digging into Marin's past, Weary is sucked into the underworld of the city, Roxane is told to drop the case - both by the police and a man she has never seen before. A man with an armed body guard.

Lepionka is a great story teller. Read this wonderful series.

Lepionka, Kristen. (2018). What You Want to See. New York: Minotaur.

The Last Place You Look (Roxane Weary #1)

The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka is the first book in her mystery series featuring private eye Roxane Weary.

Roxane is a PI whose father was a cop. He died recently and she has not been doing well since. But she is still taking on jobs - she always had a knack for finding things.

Sarah Cook has been missing for years. Her high school boyfriend, Brad Stockton, is on death row for killing her parents and her. He has maintained his innocence.

As Brad is scheduled for execution, his sister is sure she has seen Sarah in Belmont, a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio. She hires Roxane to find out if the woman was really Sarah.

Lepionka has created a wonderful, flawed character readers will love. They story is well crafted with twists no one will see coming. This is a great series - perfect for a summer read.

Lepionka, Kristen. (2017). The Last Place You Look. New York: Minotaur.

The American Agent (Maisie Dobbs #15)

The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear is the 15th book in her mystery series featuring Maisie Dobbs - an investigator and psychologist.

Maisie is asked to investigate the murder of an American reporter, Catherine Saxon. One of Edward R Murrow's reporters sending news back to the US from England during World War II.

The last article Saxon wrote was about British volunteers - after spending the night with Maisie and her best friend Priscilla - driving an ambulance through an attack by German planes.

Winspear's Maisie Dobbs is one of the best fictional characters written. She should be listed on all lists of classics. If you are not yet reading this series, start today!

Winspear, Jacqueline. (2019). The American Agent. New York: Harper.

The Nightingale

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is the story of two sisters in France during World War II.

France, 1939. Vianne Mauriac is about to say goodbye to her husband who has been call on to fight for France against a possible German invasion in the East. They have a daughter Sophie and live in the small town of Carriveau.

Isabelle Rossignol, Vianne's sister, is about to leave another boarding school. She has been kicked out of or run away from a few. Her family abandoned her after her mother died - first her father, and then her sister. But she keeps running back to Paris to try to have a family.

When Isabelle gets to Paris, her father sends her to her sisters. The Germans are invading and she will be safer outside of the city. But most of the city is fleeing, and the family she is sent with has no concern for her, only their own family.

When Vianne and Isabelle listen to first the new Vichy government leader (who says to be peaceful and let the Nazis take over) and then the WWI general de Gaulle (who says to stay rebellious), the sisters react in opposite ways. Isabelle immediately wants to help fight the occupation in any way possible. Vianne just wants to keep her daughter safe.

Hannah's book is a force. Beautifully written and crafted, this is both a triumph against they system and a heartbreaking tale (partly because it is so true of the time period). Read this book. Do not finish it in public - there will be crying!

Hannah, Kristin. (2015). The Nightingale. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Sword of the Guardina (Ithyris #1)

Sword of the Guardian by Merry Shannon is the first book in her two book series set in the land of Ithyris.

Talon and her two sisters live with a group of traveling performers. They were sold to the group after their land was raided. As the oldest, Talon does everything she can to protect her sisters - including living as a man.

When performing for the twin prince and princess's sixteenth birthday, Talon dives in front of a knife thrown at Princes Shasta - partly to save her sister.

When the royal healer discovers Talon's secret, he has an idea. Talon can be a personal guard and stay with the princess at all times - something no other guard has been able to due.

While at first Talon does not see much to like about the princess, the more they spent time together, the more they start to understand each other. The princess will need all of the help she can get as she travels the circles of politics, danger and unwanted suitors.

Shannon has written a fun, memorable fantasy book with plot twits, assassins and love. This is a great summer read.

Shannon, Merry. (2006). Sword of the Guardian. New York: Bold Strokes Books.

Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers #3)

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers is the third book in her Wayfarers series. Start reading this series today!

When the Exodans left Earth, they set up ships for people to live in for generations. When the ships reached other sapients, those aliens gave them a faded sun to orbit. Many of the humans on the ships stayed instead of moving planet-side.

Every thing on the ships is recycled or reused. They were set up not knowing if there would ever be a way to restock materials. Now they can get supplies from outside, but it is a way of life to not waste.

An alien is coming to the ships, to study humans and see this isolated way of life in person. Isabel, the archivist whose job it is to record all important moments for the future, will be xyr guide.

Tessa (sister to the Captain of the Wayfarer in the first book) is raising two children - one of whom is terrified that the ship will blow up any moment and subject her to the vacuum of space.

Eyas is a caretaker. She is in charge of both funerals and preparing and composting the body, which is then used in the gardens to sustain new life.

Kip is a teen who must soon decide on a job within the fleet. He is pushing at boundaries as all teen do, regardless of where they live.

Sawyer is fed up with the planet he lives on and is going to move to the fleet his ancestors came from.

Together this cast of characters tells the story of humans in space. This is a lovely tale of humans finally working together for the greater good. Chamber is a masterful storyteller. Even if you are not a fan of science fiction, this series is about the people (human or otherwise) and how they interact. It is a beautiful series.

Chambers, Becky. (2018). Record of a Spaceborn Few. New York: Harper Voyager.

A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarer #2)

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers is the second book in err Wayfarers science fiction series. This is a great series - even if you do not think you like science fiction!

Pepper is called by her friend to come to the ship and try to save the AI. But by save, the crew means, bring back the developed personality called Lovely who has been with them for years. When she cannot she moves the AI to a body kit.

AI are not allowed to live as sapient beings. Being in possession of a body kit will both get the AI killed and the sapient arrested. However, Pepper has a soft spot for AIs.

Told in two times - Lovelace in a body she was not designed for, trying to pass as a human and Pepper growing up on a factory planet - this is a heartfelt tale of how sapients adapt to their settings.

Chambers writes characters that readers will fondly remember for a long, long time. Her books are so good - start reading her today!

Chambers, Becky. (2016). A Closed and Common Orbit. New York: Harper Voyager.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1)

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers is the first book in her Wayfarers science fiction series. This is a great book for someone who has not read scifi and would like to check out the genre.

Rosemary is hurtling through space in a one-person pod, heading toward the ship where she just accepted a job. The ship, the Wayfarer, is a tunneling ship. In a universe where FTL has been outlawed due to the danger, tunneling ships that create wormholes are very important. It is also a very dangerous job.

The ship (and series) is peopled with a variety of species of sapients from different worlds. Chambers has created a wonderful science fiction series that is well thought out and a joy to read. I will read everything she writes!

Chambers, Becky. (2014). The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. New York: Harper Voyager.

Ana of California

Ana of California by Andi Teran is the retelling of a classic story - an Anne of Green Gables or other story of an orphan who finds her place at last.

Ana Cortez is fifteen years old. She has been in the foster care system since she was six - when her grandmother died. She has been placed with good and bad foster parents and once in a group home.

She is not moving because she is a bad kid, but because the system is broken. She spoke up to help her foster siblings and was kicked out. Of course, that is not the story told to her case worker.

Now Ana has one more chance. She can choose between a group home (not a safe place in her experience) or a work study program. If she completes the work study, she will be old enough to emancipate at the end of it.

Abbie and Emmett Garber run a small family farm in Northern California on the coast. They took over the farm when their father died. Abbie had left for a while but came back to help Emmett. For a while she and Emmett and Emmett's wife (Abbie's best friend) all ran the farm together. Now that Abbie and Emmett are on their own, Abbie has signed them up to foster a teen to help on the farm.

With Ana having never been out of East Los Angeles and Abbie and Emmett picturing someone a little heartier looking than the petite Ana, they will have to learn to communicate to see if they can work and live together for the summer.

This is a great book - both for teens and adults. It would, if done well, be a great movie. Read it today.

Teran, Andi. (2015). Ana of California. New York: Penguin Books.

Uncompromising Honor (Honor Harrington #14)

Uncompromising Honor by David Weber is the fourteenth book in his science fiction series featuring Honor Harrington.

The Grand Alliance is at war with the Solarian League - not officially, but the Sol Navy keeps attacking anyway. At some point, Manitcore and allies will have to do something to stop them.

Honor Harrington has worked her way up the ranks of the Manticore Space Navy to second in charge. She is now the First Space Lord. She has faced many enemies of her kingdom along the way, and made many allies.

Uncompromising Honor is the last book in this amazing series. Weber says not to be surprised if we see Honor in other series in the universe. There is also her time teaching at the Saganami academy (which chronologically goes after book 10 in this series).

The Honor books were meant to be a Master and Commander in space. No only did David Weber succeed, but he created what is possibly my favorite scifi series of all time.

Weber, David. (2018). Uncompromising Honor. New York: Baen.

Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood in the Scandinavian Way

Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood in the Scandinavian Way by Lars Mytting is a complete guide to firewood.

As someone who just purchased a wood stove insert, I wanted a book to teach me about firewood. This one comes highly recommended.

Mytting first became interested in the Norwegian national obsession with firewood when saw a neighbor receive an enormous pile of wood. After spending the winter mostly huddled in the house, his older neighbor Ottar, spent weeks moving the pile of wood from his front yard to the back, stacked as insurance against the next winter.

Mytting then traveled around Scandinavia and spoke to others who seem obsessed with collecting wood in early Spring - spending time drying it correctly, and then stacking it in various ways for the winter.

This is an informative, light look at the relationship wood plays in our lives. It is focused on types of wood found in Norway, but can be applied to trees in the US as well.

Mytting, Lars. (2015). Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood in the Scandinavian Way. New York: Abrams.

Lethal White (Cormoran Strike #4)

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (a pseudonym for JK Rowling) is the forth book in the mystery series featuring Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott.

Cormoran is a private investigator based in London. He was military police until an explosion took part of his leg. Now he has a small agency that has been in the news a few times. His partner, Robin Ellacott, started as a temp. She was so helpful and showed a great brain and an interest in solving mysteries.

While Robin is out for her honeymoon, a man comes into the office who makes the temporary secretary nervous. Strike returns to the office to find Billy, who has a nervous twitch and has not bathed for a while. But his story is so detailed is seems credible.

Billy runs away before Strike can convince him to give them contact information. When Strike finds Billy's brother at an anti-Olympics meeting, the man is convinced that a government Minister sent him to harass him.

Then next day, that same Minister hires Strike to find out who is blackmailing him and to get some dirt on them to keep them quiet. Robin goes undercover in the Parliament. And she and Strike get a glimpse of what the upper classes do to each other.

Galbraith is a great writer and the main characters, Robin and Cormoran, are two of my favorites.

Galbraith, Robert. (2018). Lethal White. New York: Mulholland Books.

Pulp

Pulp by Robin Talley is a series of stories of young lesbians - one in present day, and one in the 1950s.

Abby Zimet has to choose a topic for her senior project - a full year on something where she produces a work. It can be anything, but she has not chosen because she is preoccupied by her parents' relationship dying and the break up with her girlfriend. When she discovers the lesbian pulp books from the 50s and 60s she decides to write her own.

Abby's favorite so far is a book by Marian Love. The first (fictional) book where one of the main characters did not have to die to appease the censors of the time. She wants to find out more about the woman who wrote it.

Janet Jones picked up a book in the train station. A story of two women in love who have a hard time and then ultimately break up so that one of them goes back to her male fiancée. Janet is so moved that she writes a letter to the author.

But in the 1950s, along with McCarthy's obsession on finding communists, there was the lavender scare. A witch hunt of people turning in anyone who they thought was gay - or they just did not like. Janet's best friend (and crush) just got a job with the State Department.

Talley has written a kind of layered story of young lesbians finding authors who understand them, and they in turn writing a book that someone of a later generation finds. The character of Janet Jones - stuck in the 50s in a religious family - is the best part of this book. She is a strong, strong woman stuck in a dangerous time.

Talley, Robin. (2018). Pulp. New York: Harlequin Teen.

All Clear (Oxford Time Travel #2)

All Clear by Connie Willis is the second book in her Oxford Time Travel duo. Historians from 2060 travel to England during WWII to study the war and its effects on people.

Armed with the schedule of bombs dropped on London, Polly has traveled to the Blitz to study the people in shelters and how the almost nightly attacks affect them.

Her brief includes getting a job as a shop girl at the one department store not hit and renting a room in a street that is safe as well.

But her assignment also included checking in to give the team at Oxford her address so that if anything goes wrong they can pull her out. But her drop has not been opening so she cannot go back (technically forth!) and check in. The longer her drop does not open the more likely that she will be in London for longer than her list of bombs she studied.

Michael and Merope are having the same problem. Each of them know Polly and are going to London to find her and use her drop. If nothing else, it will be easier for the retrieval team to find them if they stick together. And due to the nature of time travel, even if the team at Oxford need time to figure it out, they can still travel back to when they need to for a rescue.

As the Blitz intensifies, the historians are living the history they wanted to study. But what if their prolonged stays cause ripples that change the outcome of the war or the people they meet?

Read this series! It is amazing. Connie Willis has come up with a fascinating timeline that puts readers and characters alike into the terror of war. What once seems like a simple plot, develops into a trap that readers will stay up late to escape.

Willis, Connie. (2010). All Clear. New York: Spectra.

Blackout (Oxford Time Travel #1)

Blackout by Connie Willis is the first of a two book series about historians who travel back in time to learn about their time of study.

In the year 2060, historians can not only study history, but experience it firsthand. Scientists have found a way to travel back in time. Oxford has been sending people back for years now. There are whole departments to make sure that clothing, paperwork and items are period-authentic so historians can blend in. The chaos of the space/time continuum will not allow the historians to alter events, but they still take care to watch their effects on those they meet.

Three historians who are studying WWII in England, are about to go to that time. Merope will be going back as Eileen, a woman in service who will help at a country house to study the child evacuees from the Blitz. Many families sent their children to the country to be clear of the bombs dropped on London.

Polly has already been to the war. She returned from 1945 where she was an ambulance driver. Now she is going to the beginning of the Blitz to see life in the air raid shelters.

Mike is traveling as a newspaper man, from America. He was due to go to Pearl Harbor first, hence the accent implant that means he needs a cover that is American. His drops were re-arranged with little explanation. Now he is on his way to see the evacuation of Dunkirk from the small boats along the English Channel.

Lately in the net, there have been slippages. Historians arriving a few minutes late or a few blocks away. It may be due to the fact that a drop will not open if there are witnesses. But each of these historians experience large slippage. How will that effect them getting back to 2060?

Willis has written an amazing book. It is one of the few WWII accounts that make the reader feel like they understand how people felt. If you are a fan of history or just great writing, read this!

Willis, Connie. (2010). Blackout. New York: Spectra.