The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix is about the people who keep our reality as we know it.

The right-handed booksellers are the intellectuals. The left-handed are the weapons. 

Susan Arkshaw just moved to London. She will be starting art school in three months. She has come early to research her father. She has no name, only a small silver case and a reading room ticket from the 1970s. 

Susan's first stop is at Uncle Frank's. He is not really her uncle, but her only clue. When she gets here, Merlin (a left-handed bookseller) has turned Frank to dust. 

Since Susan can see this, it means she has some magic in her. This becomes more evident when thing keep hunting her.

Nix is one of my favorite authors. His imagination leads to wonderful stories, many which combine magic, myth and the Old World. This is no exception!

Nix, Garth. (2020). The Left-Handed Booksellers of London. New York: Katherine Tegan Books.

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1)

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse is a great book and the first in her Between Earth and Sky series. 

Celestial prophesies say that on the day of the black sun there will be a reckoning. In the city of Tova the solstice is a time of celebration and renewal as the sun completes the year and comes back for a new one. The Sun Priest will lead the ceremony to ensure that it does.

Captain Xiala, a Teek sailor whose song can calm the waters and call a breeze, is hired to get a blind man to the city of Tova. He must arrive before the convergence. This will require cutting across the sea instead of following the shoreline. 

Serapio, the blind man, is anything but harmless. He has been training almost since birth to perform one act.; It has to be done as the sky darkens - before the sun can be brought back for a new year.

Roanhorse has created a wonderful fantasy series set in the pre-Colombian Americas. This is one of the best books I read in 2020!

Roanhorse, Rebecca. (2020). Black Sun. New York: Saga Press.

A Deadly Education (Scholomance #1)

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik is the first book in her fantasy series The Scholomance - imagine if Hogwarts killed more students that it graduated! 

El, short for Galadriel, is a magic high school that eats about half of the students, or rather mals get them. It is dangerous to make friends, but also necessary to form alliances by the last year. 

Some of the other students belong to magical families who have joined an enclave. These students are used to getting their way, have access to the best spells and use the unaffiliated as serfs with the promise to consider them for membership in their enclave if they live through graduation. 

El is a dark wizard, born to the sweetest healer in Europe. She refused to embrace her darkness, but the school keeps giving her assignments based on her evil talent.

Novik has created a wonderful series. I love this book and cannot wait for the next. Buy a copy today.

Novik, Naomi. (2020). A Deadly Education. New York: DelRey.

The Lost Shtetl

The Lost Shtetl by Max Gross is the story of what happens to an isolated village when the modern world encroaches. 

A small Jewish village in the forests of Poland has been living the same way for generations. It has been lost to time by the rest of the world.

When two different people go missing in a short amount of time, the village chooses someone to walk to the city - a three-day walk - to inform the police. 

Just before Yankel Lewinkopf leave for the city, the Gypsy caravan that comes to trade twice a year stops by. They agree to take Yankel to the city.

Speaking little Polish and having little money, Yankel has a difficult time explaining what he needs. He is overwhelmed by a modern city and is eventually taken to be hallucinating, and taken to the hospital for help.

Gross's book is a look at the differences between tradition and the modern world - in a creative setting. 

Groos, Max, (2020). The Lost Shtetl. New York: Harper Via.

Daoism: A Beginner's Guide

Daoism: A Beginner's Guide by James Miller is a great introduction to a philosophy and religion of balance.

This is a great introduction to Daoism, from its creation through the main three schools of thought today, including the philosophies, Tai Chi, and meditation.

Beginning in China, spanning centuries and almost every part of the globe, this guide is beautifully organized some of the main concepts in Daoism. Miller also explores how Daoism and Buddhism influenced each other over the ages.

This is a beautiful book whose timeliness in the current pandemic may give you some ways to refocus your mind.

Miller, James. (2014). Daoism: A Beginner's Guide. London: Oneworld.

The Midnight Library

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is a great novel for 2020 - a time when we have more time to think about our choices and where they have led us.

Nora Seed is living a life of misery and regret. The regret stems from decisions she has made in the past, but she does not see a way out of where she now resides.

After taking drastic measures, Nora finds herself in a huge library. All of the books are green and the shelves to for what seems like miles. When she sees her school librarian, a woman who was always kind to her, she is told that all of the books are her lives.

In a multiverse model, each decision we make splits into new lives. Now Nora will have a chance to see what her life would have been like if she had chosen differently.

This is a wonderful, though-provoking look at life. An extended version of Jane, Unlimited. I absolutely loved this book. Buy a copy today from your local bookstore.

Haig, Matt. (2020). The Midnight Library. New York: Viking.

Changing Course

Changing Course by Brey Willow is a science fiction novel that takes place on the lawless planet of Indemnion. 

When her ship is hit by asteroids, Captain Jessa Arabella is forces to evacuate her entire crew. She is in the last escape pod, that is also struck. The only planet within range is one that her fleet avoids.

Scrounger Kylin Enderson sees the debris falling from the sky. She hopes for some good finds to get her out of debt to a shady character who makes her fight to pay her father's medicine. 

Great science fiction adventure featuring two strong women. I hope Brey Willow writes more scifi!

Willow, Brey. (2019). Changing Course. Valley Falls: NY: Bold Strokes Books.

Upright Women Wanted

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey is a dystopian western that takes place in what is now the southwest of the United States. 

With general lawlessness between towns, and a strong patriarchy in place, Esther has a need to escape. Her best friend / secret girlfriend was just hanged for a minor offence. Now Esther is to marry the fiancée. 

Her only chance is stowing away in the wagon of the librarians - women who roam from town to town distributing Approved Materials. No one would mess with these strong women doing the work of the government.

What she finds are queer librarian spies on horseback - can't get much more perfect than that! I loved this book and am hoping for a sequel. Also, I am reading everything Sarah Gailey has written!

Gailey, Sarah. (2020). Upright Women Wanted. New York: Tor.

30 Dates in 30 Days

30 Dates in 30 Days by Elle Spencer is a lesbian romance novel of finding love. 

Veronica Welch is a busy lawyer. She is about to make partner - something she put the rest of her life on hold to accomplish. On night, after a few drinks, she confessed to her assistant Bea that she planned on being partner and married to a lovely woman by the time she turned thirty-five. 

Now that she is approaching that age, Bea has taken it upon herself to create a profile for Veronica on a lesbian dating app. She has set up 30 dates of 30 minutes over the next month. The set up gives Veronica a way out if she doesn't want more. 

Bea has found a wonderful bar, recently inherited by the daughter of the previous owner and updated. Monaghan's Bar is located near work, next to a good Italian restaurant if she want to extend any of the dates. 

As the dates begin, the locals at the bar start to notice and take bets on the dates. Charlotte Monaghan's cousin, Rachel, who helps out at the bar, thinks this is a terrible way to meet someone.

Spencer has written a wonderful, fun romance book. One of the best ones I have read in a while. 

Spencer, Elle. (2019). 30 Dates in 30 Days. Valley Falls, NY: Bold Strokes Books.

Shatter the Sky (Shatter the Sky #1)

Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells is the first book her YA fantasy series.

Maren loves Kaia. They live in a mountain nation that was conquered and is now under a far off ruler. The only evidence they see is when the Aurati come every seven years for the census. Rumor is that they sometimes take young women with them when they leave.

When Kaia is taken, Maren will do anything to rescue her. Telling her parents a half-truth, she leaves on a trip to clear her head and mourn. But she is really planning on stealing a dragon (all controlled by the emperor) and break into the stronghold where Kaia is being held.

Wells has written a great first book in the series. I am impatiently waiting to read the next! 

Wells, Rebecca Kim. (2019). Shatter the Sky. New York: Simon & Scheuster.

Breaking Down Her Walls

Breaking Down Her Walls by Erin Zak is a lesbian romance western.

When Julia fled Chicago after a meeting her birth parents for the first time, her goal is just to head west as long as possible. After a detour in Colorado, her car decides she has gotten far enough.

An offer of a job for car repair lands Julia on a ranch outside of town working for Elena Bennett and her son Cole. It is an experience far from her norm.

After bouncing from foster home to foster home, Julia has never stayed anywhere for very long. But things could change...

Zak, Erin. Breaking Down Her Walls. Valley Falls, NY: Bold Strokes Books.

Buddhism: An Introduction to the Buddha's Life, Teachings, and Practices

Buddhism: An Introduction to the Buddha's Life, Teachings and Practices by Joan Duncan Oliver is a lovely way to discover an ages old philosophy. 

Oliver is a great writer who has chosen to start this introduction with the life of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. Through the growth and changing of Buddhism as it spreads, including details on the three main traditions, this is an excellent primer on a beautiful way of life.

This is a great book to get you started if you are interested in Buddhism or meditation. 

Oliver, Joan Duncan. (2019). Buddhism: An Introduction to the Buddha's Life, Teachings and Practices. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Ayesha at Last

Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin is a retelling of Pride & Prejudice set in a Muslim community in Toronto, Canada. 

Ayesha Shamsi is a substitute teacher. She writes poetry. And she is considered too old to marry. She is focused on her career and is comfortable with who she has become. 

Her younger cousin Hafsa is in the process of finding a husband. Her goal seems to be someone handsome and rich. She trusts the process of arranged marriages.

Khalid Mirza works for a large technology company. He has been praised for his work but his new boss seems to want him out due to his traditional wardrobe. As a devout Muslim he feels most comfortable wearing a robe and a long beard. 

Clara, Ayesha's best friend and Khalid's co-worker has a plan to set them up. But after a rough introduction, a false assumption and mistaken identity, they are off to a bad start. 

Jalaluddin has written a wonderful love story set in the Canadian Muslim community. 

Jalaluddin, Uzma. (2018). Ayesha at Last. New York: Berkley.

Thorn

Thorn by Anna Burke is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

When Rowan's father crosses into the winter lands and breaks a rule he never heard, the Huntress comes to his home for repayment. What she takes is Rowan.

Rowan has never known cold like she meets in the Huntress's home. Surrounded by huge wolves and far from any escape it is hard for Rowan to understand that she is not a prisoner. 

Burke has taken a well-known tale and recreated it with women in all of the significant roles. 

Burke, Anna. (2018). Thorn. Michigan: Bywater Books.

Get It Together, Delilah!

Get It Together, Delilah! by Erin Gough is the story of seventeen year old Delilah Green in Sydney, Australia. 

After a tough divorce, Delilah has encouraged her father to take a long trip. It is summer break and they coffee shop they own is under control. 

She will do anything to let her father have this time to recover, but when the cafe manager gets into a car accident and then deported for an expired via, her life gets more difficult.

Gough, Erin. (2015). Get It Together, Delilah! San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

The Last Place You Look

The Last Place You Look by Aurora Rey is about finding love where you least expect it.

Julia Pierce is moving back to Kenota, New York, the town where she grew up. She is recently divorced, has no career, and is going to work at her family's winery while she lives in her grandmother's house. 

Taylor Winslow has had a crush on Julia since high school. She is super happy to see Julia return, especially single. When they run into each other at the hardware store, Taylor volunteers to help Julia with a project. 

Rey has written a sweet romance about finding your place, even if you have to feel like you are going backwards to move forward. 

Rey, Aurora. (2020). The Last Place You Look. Valley Falls, NY: Bold Stroke Books.

Hot Ice

 

Hot Ice is three lesbian romance novellas by Aurora Rey, Elle Spencer and Erin Zak. 

In Ice on Wheels by Aurora Rey a roller derby rivalry changes as the enemy moves to New Orleans and joins her former rivals.

In Private Equity by Elle Spencer, Cassidy Bennet works for Julia Whitmore as her executive assistant. On a business trip to Seattle, they engage in more than business.

In Closed Door Policy by Erin Zak a professor falls for her student, a woman who is going back to school for a late career change. 

Three fun, quick romances to introduce you to new authors to follow.

Rey, Aurora. (2019). Hot Ice. Valley Falls, NY: Bold Strokes Books.

The Bird King

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson is a great fantasy adventure set in 1491 Granada, just as Spain is unified under Ferdinand and Isabela. 

Living in the last sultanate of the Iberian peninsula, Fatima is a concubine. She lives in the harem of a once rich palace. Her only friend is the royal mapmaker, Hassan.

Hassan has always had a gift. He can draw things he has not seen in vivid detail. He can alter maps to create shortcuts on maps that bend reality until the map is destroyed. 

When a party representing the new Spanish monarchy arrives, lead by a woman who is high in the inquisition, it is dangerous for Hassan. When Fatima learns he is in danger the two escape. 

They will head for an island off the coast - only heard of in tales. It is where the bird king lives. This is a wonderful fantasy set in a tumultuous time in history. 

Wilson, G. Willow. (2019). The Bird King. New York: Grove Press.

Music From Another World

Music From Another World by Robin Talley is a discovery of new ideas as two students in California are assigned as pen pals by their conservative religious high schools. 1977

Tammy Larson, in Orange County, attends a conservative Christian school started by her aunt. To try to process what she is being asked to do, she starts a diary to Harvey Milk.

Sharon Hawkins, in San Francisco, has just found out her brother is gay. She joins him for a protest of an anti-gay bills passage in Florida. The protest is led by Harvey Milk, who is running for office. 

Sharon and Tammy find they have something in common - punk music. Sharon goes to a club in the Castro and hears local punk women and Tammy has found Patti Smith. Neither had heard music that matched their feeling before. 

Talley is a historical fiction master. She always chooses interesting times to set her novels of strong young women. 

Talley, Robin. (2020). Music From Another World. New York: Inkyard Press.

Once You Go That Far (Roxane Weary #4)

Once You Go That Far by Kristen Lepionka is the fourth book in the mystery series featuring PI Roxane Weary. 

Roxane has decided to exercise more. Her hard drinking and odd hours investigating need a balance. But when she starts out on a trail, she hears a scuffle. A woman has fallen / was pushed down a steep hill. 

School nurse Rebecca Newsome's daughter hires Roxane to investigate what really happened. She is sure that her mom's ex-husband must have done it. As Roxane pieces together Rebecca's last days, they don't add up.

Lepionka has created a wonderful, flawed character. Her writing will pull you in immediately and her twists and turns will take you by surpirse.

Lepionka, Kristen. (2020). Once You Go That Far. New York: Minotaur Books.

Red at the Bone

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson is a whole family epic story in a small book. 

Told mostly through flashback memories during an afternoon in 2001 Brooklyn, as Melody walks down the stairs during a party, her parents and grandparents reflect of how they got to this time in their lives. 

Two families of different social classes are joined together by a teen pregnancy. Through experiences, decisions and relationships a family is created and changed. 

Woodson is an incredible author who can set a scene with on sentence. Her powerful writing makes for amazing reading. 

Woodson, Jacqueline. (2019). Red at the Bone. New York: Riverhead Books.

Scenes and Walks in the Northern Shawanagunks

 

Scenes and Walks in the Northern Shawangunks by Jack Fagan is both a hiking guide and a geologic history of a unique area.

The Gunks are part of a range of the Appalachian Fold Belt that stretches through the East coast of the US and into Canada. What makes this part of the fold unique is the exposed quarts conglomerate - or pretty while cliffs in which you can see the striations of formation and time.

While the Shawangunks are known for rock climbing, they also contain some of the most beautiful hiking in the region. High cliffs and ridges, waterfalls and dwarf pine can been seen. 

This guide begins with the formation of the land, speaks about plants and animals, and concludes with some great trails.

Fagan, Jack. (2006). Scenes and Walks in the Northern Shawangunks. New York: New York - New Jersey Trail Conference. 

The Book of Lost Names

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel is a beautiful tale of resistance. 

Eva Traube Abrams is a Florida librarian. At the age of 81 she see an article in the newspaper with the photo of a man holding a book she has not seen in sixty years. This man is in Berlin, his life's work trying to reunite books with the people from whom they were stolen during World War II. This book seems to contain some sort of code. 

In 1942 Eva and her mother fled Paris after her father was arrested along with thousands of other Jews. A man who had been paid to help them if anything happened, gave Eva blank documents and pens, telling her to create papers for her and her mother. 

Arriving a small village along the mountains, Eva's papers attract some attention - by the network of people trying to save Jewish children fleeing the Nazis. Her skills at copying and drawing stamps can be used by the resistance.

Harmel has written a beautiful book of hope. Read it.

Harmel, Kristin. (2020). The Book of Lost Names. New York: Gallery Books.

The Night Watchman

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich is a beautiful story of people working together to stop politicians from steamrolling over them. 

Based on family stories of her grandfather, Erdrich tells of the 1953-54 Turtle Mountain tribe of Chippewa campaigning to defeat a bill before congress that would eliminate status of their tribe - dissolving the reservation in order to sell the land.

Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel bearing factory on the reservation. During his quite nights he also takes care of tribe business and writes letters. 

His niece, Pixie, works at the plant. Women are better at the small, detailed work involved. Pixie would rather be called Patrice. When her sister who has been relocated to the city via a program for Indians goes missing, she tries to find her. 

Wood Mountain, a local boxer, agrees to a rematch to raise funds to send representatives to a hearing in Washington. 

Erdrich's novel is filled with memorable characters. Her writing is poetic and beautiful. After reading this, I will be reading all of her other works!

Erdrich, Louise. (2020). The Night Watchman. New York: Harper Collins.

Pet

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi is a young adult novel of how to tell the monsters from other people. 

In the near future, after the revolution to get rid of the monsters, in the city of Lucille a young person named Jam lives with their parents. 

When their mother creates a painting, it seems to want to come alive. And Pet accidentally lets what looks like a monster out of the canvas. But the creature is actually a monster hunter. But what monsters? They were all gotten during the revolution.

Emezi's layered book looks at justice and identity. How do you save the world if no one will admit the monsters exist? (A very important question for our time!) A tender look at a society in denial by a brilliant poetical author.

Emezi, Akwaeke. (2020). Pet. New York: Make Me A World.

The Warmth of Other Suns

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson is a Pulitzer Prize winning title about black lives in the United States.

Starting around 1915 during World War I and going until 1970, more than six million black Americans moved from the South either north or west. An often overlooked factor in the history of the US, this migration influenced everything about our world today.

Following three people who represent some of the common stories of migration, Wilkerson tells of the reasons why people left the South and why they chose where to settle. 

In 1937 Ida Mae Gladney left Mississippi for Chicago. 

In 1945 George Starling left the orange fields of Florida for Harlem.

In 1957 Robert Joseph Pershing Foster left Louisiana for California.

These and many others, including the author's own mother, left the South to make a better life for themselves, to (hopefully) be treated like human being and citizens in their own country. The slow but huge exodus forced the South to address laws like Jim Crow that were causing people to flee. In the North, blacks were not welcomed with open arms - being forced into specific neighborhoods and jobs - creating tensions between them and European immigrants they were competing with for space and livelihood. 

This fascination part of our history should be taught in school. This book fills in the gaps in our education system. 

Wilkerson, Isabel. (2010). The Warmth of Other Suns. New York: Random House.

A Longer Fall (Gunnie Rose #2)

 A Longer Fall by Charlaine Harris is the second book in her alternative history western featuring Gunnie Rose - a bodyguard and guide through the wild lands of North America.

Joined by a new crew, Gunnie Rose is escorting a crate from Texoma to Dixie. 

When the train is derailed, she is sure is it to seal the crate. Rose and the other gunnie, Lizbeth, try to defend their cargo against whomever is coming for it. 

Harris has created a wonderfully enjoyable series that is part western, part fantasy and part historical. Rose is as followable a character as her Sookie Stackhouse was in the vampire South.

Harris, Charlaine. (2020). A Longer Fall. New York: Saga Press.

Movie: The Biggest Little Farm

The Biggest Little Farm is a beautiful documentary about a couple who dreamed of having a farm and wanted to do it right. 

Following Molly and John Chester for eight years, this is the uplifting story of starting from scratch - or even before that since they started with barren land - and creating a sustainable, integrated farm where the pants and animals work together like nature intended. 

Each conflict or setback becomes an opportunity to look at the situation from all angles and unlock or uncover a biodiverse design that will further the strength of the land.

I love this movie. I have now watched it three times and have recommended it to everyone I know. Go watch it!

A film by John Chester. 

The City We Became (Great Cities #1)

 

The City We Became by NK Jemisin is the first in their Great Cities series. 

As a man arrives in Manhattan he forgets who he is but he can feel the city around him. He knows that something in the city does not belong and he feels sure it is up to him to fight it. 

This is happening to one person in each borough. As the city fights to become alive, it will need those who are true to it to help. 

In the Bronx, an artist whose family has been here since before Columbus sets up a photo exhibit of graffiti that captures the essence of the city. In Brooklyn, a rapper come city official fights gentrification of her home. In Queens, a mathematics student originally from from elsewhere fights to protect her borough. And in Staten Island, a young woman will have to decide between two options - both of which are scary.

Jemisin has created a series for people who love, not only NYC, but cities and their personalities. This novel has science fiction elements but reads as magical realism with an interdimensional twist. A fun read.

Jemisin, NK. (2020). The City We Became. New York: Orbit.

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas is the first book in her Crescent City series, a fantasy series that also includes technology of our world (cars, computers, guns, etc...).

Bryce Quinlan is half Fae and half human. She lives in Lunathion, also called Crescent City, and is known as a partier. Her best friend Danika Fendyr is the leader of a pack of wolf shapeshifters. Bryce works at an auction house that deals in rare to forbidden art, books, artifacts, and is owned by a sorceress who is reported to turn those who annoy her into animals.

A brutal murder changes Bryce's life forever. Due to her relationship to the victims and her attempt to kill the demon who did it, she is tasked to help find who summoned the demon. She is assigned a bodyguard / partner who is a fallen angel known as the Shadow of Death.

Their investigation takes them to all levels of the city, into their own dark pasts, up against incredibly powerful creatures.

This first in Maas's new series will not disappoint. She has quickly grown to become on of the most loved fantasy authors. Her books are cleaver, fast, twisty and sexy.

Maas, Sarah J. (2020). House of Earth and Blood. New York: Bloomsbury.

An Easy Death (Gunnie Rose #1)

An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris is the first book in her alternate history / fantasy / western series featuring Gunnie Rose.

In an alternate history of North America, where other countries (Canada, Mexico, Russia, England) control part of what we know at the United States, Rose works as a gunnie on a crew that transports people between what is once again Mexico (now called Texoma) and New America to the north - across the lawless region in between.

When all goes wrong, she is forced to take a job by two wizards from the Holy Russian Empire (California to Alaska) as a local guide and gunnie while they look for a missing man. She doesn't tell them that she knows exactly what happened to him - she needs the money.

This is a great start to another fun series by Charlaine Harris, best known for her Southern Vampire series that became True Blood on HBO. With a feel both western and dystopian, this is the start of a wonderful series.

Harris, Charlaine. (2018). An Easy Death. New York: Saga Press.

Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World

Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett tells the tale of the Grafton's shipwreck on the Auckland Islands, 285 miles from New Zealand in the year 1864.

Two businessmen in Sydney came up with the idea of a crew sailing to an uninhabited island in the frozen ocean south of Australia and New Zealand, find a rumored mine and fill the ship with wealth. Captain Musgrave, one of the men's nephew, and Francoise Raynal set about finding a small ship and a crew.

Joined by a cook and two seaman, the ship consists of men from 4 nations (England, France, Azores, and Norway), they embark on a get-rich-quick scheme that has them sailing some of the most dangerous waters on the planet.

Making it safely to the chosen island, there is no sign of a mine. To make up some of the revenue expended, the Musgrave and Raynal decide to stop in the Aucklands to hunt seals - something none of them has any experience with - to fill the ship.

A storm dashes them into the rocks of an island made of cliffs - scoured year round by wind and rain. Luckily, the ship remains partially intact, allowing them to make is safely to shore and take some supplies. What follows is a harrowing tale of survival accomplished by putting aside rank and focusing on needs, starting with building a shelter.

Told from survivor journals, and including the history of the Auckland Islands, the tale of the Grafton crew's two years on an inhospitable island is fascinating. The ingenuity of the crew and the ability to scavenge from the ship for materials to alter into tools is incredible. One of the best survival stories I have read.

Druett, Joan (2007). Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books.

The Last Astronaut

The Last Astronaut by David Wellington is a thriller set in space.

After the 2034 disaster, manned space flight was stopped by NASA. Mission Commander Sally Jansen made it back to Earth, but lost a crewmember. She was flayed in the press. Now she lives in Florida, a state mostly underwater, working on a salvage crew. Diving is the closest she can get to the feeling of a spacewalk.

Years later: Sunny Stevens, an employee of a private space firm, comes to NASA with evidence of a projectile flying toward Earth. It is not a meteor, because it has slowed down, putting it on a trajectory for Earth's orbit.

Now NASA is in need of astronauts to meet the possible ship that is hurtling toward Earth. And Sally Jansen is the only hope for a commander.

Joined by Sunny and two others - a scientist and a military officer - Sally must face her fears and fly toward the alien ship. But the company Sunny worked for also has a ship on its way to intercept.

Wellington has written a scifi monster story containing all of the elements necessary for a fun read.

Wellington, David. (2019). The Last Astronaut. New York: Orbit.

Freshwater

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi is a fictionalized novel based on her life, a quasi-memoir, of living as a plural person.

Ada, born in southern Nigeria, is a trouble prone child due to the ogbanje or spirits to share her body. As is typical of Nigerian parents, Ada is sent abroad for college. She moves to United States.

At college a traumatic event leads to one of the ogbanje taking over Ada's body. Asughara protects Ada but also revels at having a physical body to do with as she pleases.

Written with lyrical prose this difficult tale is moving and beautiful. It is the story of loss and reconciliation, of heartbreak, and of merging the disparate parts into harmony. Emezi is a powerful writer who choses words carfully - resulting in sentences that stop your reading in its tracks so you can savor them. I will read everything they write.

Emezi, Akwaeke. (2018). Freshwater. New York: Grove Press.

The Clockmaker's Daughter

The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton is a beautiful mystery / ghost story.

In 1862 a group of artists spend the summer at a house in the countryside on the Upper Thames, a house called Birchwood Manor. What is supposed to be a time of creativity is ruined by a murder and disappearance.

150 years later an archivist, Elodie Winslow, receives a satchel found in a closet. It contains a sketchbook and a sepia photo of a beautiful woman. The two do not seem to be related and the satchel is from a later era. One of the sketches in the book is of a house that looks exactly like the house is a story Elodie's mother told her as a child.

Weaving together the two time periods, Morton weaves a tale of mystery, family secrets and a beautiful manor by the river. This is a beautiful story, read it today.

Morton, Kate. (2018). The Clockmaker's Daughter. New York: Atria Books.

4 3 2 1

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster is four stories in one - how one decision could lead to four possible lives for Archie Ferguson.

Born in 1947 in New Jersey, and with twentieth century American history as a backdrop, each of the possibilities branch from one night when Archie is a still a boy when something happens at his father's appliance store. In each version the night is slightly different and branches out from there.

In each version there are overlapping people - family and friends who play a role. In each version Archie chooses a different path based on how his life changed that night. One night that alters how he sees the world.

Auster is a master of a beautifully told story. This one is wonderful to contemplate as it is being read. Read any of his books and you will want to read all of the others.

Auster, Paul. (2017). 4 3 2 1. New York: Picador.

On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous

On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong is a beautiful memoir of a Vietnamese American man finding his way in two cultures, caught between two worlds - one at home and one outside of the home.

When he is small, his mother and grandmother move him to the US, to Harford, Connecticut. His father was an American soldier he has not met. He is called Little Dog in the Vietnamese custom of not praising a good looking child and possibly calling trouble.

His mother and grandmother work hard to make sure he can have a good, American life. His story is largely about the relationship between him and them.

Each sentence packs a punch by this poet author. Covering many real topics throughout the story including race, class, masculinity, sexuality, addiction, violence and trauma, and first love. This is powerful storytelling that also about how to tell stories.

Read this beautiful, difficult story.

Vuong, Ocean. (2019). On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous. New York: Penguin Press. 

The Overstory

The Overstory by Richard Powers is like no other novel you have read - an epic tale where trees are main characters. It is likely the best book you will read this year and will change the way you think.

Via the stories of eight humans, this book tells the story of trees - the roles they play in our world, in our lives and in our future. But do not think this is a science textbook. This is storytelling at its best with great and flawed characters over generations.

I do not want to give anything away so buy your own copy and start reading today!

Powers, Richard. (2018). The Overstory. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

Goldenhand (Abhorsen Trilogy / Old Kingdom #5)

Goldenhand by Garth Nix is the fifth book in his Old Kingdom series which started with the Abhorsen trilogy. This is one of my favorite fantasy series.

Lirael, the Abhorsen in Waiting, will be in charge of defending the kingdom while Sabriel and Touchstone are on a much needed vacation.

When a message hawk arrives from the South Wall saying that Nicolas Sayre is in trouble, Lirael flies there to find out what is happening.

A Free Magic creature leads her to believe that an enemy she thought was dead is still around.

Goldenhand as good as the original series. Fans waited patiently in the hopes of the series continuing and it was completely worth the wait. Read this wonderful fantasy series.

Nix, Garth. (2016). Goldenhand. New York: Hot Key Books.

Dear Edward

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano is the story of a plane crash with one survivor - a twelve-year-old boy.

Eddie is moving from New York City to California with his mom, dad, and older brother. They are all packed and about to take off on Flight 2977.  Jane Adler is a writer who is moving to Los Angeles to write for a television show. Bruce Adler is a mathematician and homeschool teacher to his two sons.

Told in snippets alternating between the flight and after, Napolitano introduces a cast of characters who are all on the flight for different reasons. After the crash, Eddie goes to live with his aunt and uncle in New Jersey, trying to make sense of his new life.

This is great book. It is both suspenseful because readers know something bad is about to happen and the coming of age story of a boy growing into a man.

Napolitano, Ann. (2020). Dear Edward. New York: The Dial Press.

Pachinko

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is a family epic based on four generations of a Korean family in Japan beginning in the early 1900s.

Sunja, the daughter of an innkeeper in Yeongdo, a small fishing village in Korea, falls for a stranger at the market. She assumes he will marry her, but when she becomes pregnant she discovers that he is already married.

Isak is a minister traveling from the north of Korea on his way to Japan. He seeks out the boarding house that his brother stay in years ago. There he meets Sunja and offers to marry her and take her to Japan with him.

When they arrive in Japan, both are shocked to discover it is not the promise land they were lead to believe. Koreans are required to live in the ghetto. Prejudice controls every part of their lives.

As time passes, the family faces many obstacles. They succeed as well as their station allows. During WWII they find help from a surprising source. Sunja and Isak's sons continue the struggle as the generations continue.

Pachinko is a wonderful book about a minority family in a homogenous country. An instant classic beautifully written. Read it now.

Lee, Min Jin. (2017). Pachinko. New York: Grand Central Publishing.

Crier's War (Automae #1)

Crier's War by Nina Varela is the first book in her fantasy series set in the land of Rabu, ruled by the Automae.

When Queen Thea could not have children she offered a reward to anyone who could make her a daughter. This is how the first Automa was Made. She was more than a human - stronger, faster, smarter. Soon Automae where being Made to serve humans all over the land. The came of the War of Kinds, where Automae took over and keep humans as servants.

Now Lady Crier, the daughter of the king is about to be wed to Kinok. This is a political marriage. One designed to pull the power Kinok is growing under the king's control. The king is a believer in Traditionalism - structuring their lives as the humans did. But Kinok's Anti-Reliance Movement wants Automae to stop following the ideas of the weaker humans.

Ayla wants revenge on the king for killing her family. Her goal is to kill his daughter Crier to hurt him. If she can work her way into the castle from her position in the fields, she can get close enough to do it.

Varela has written a great first novel in this fantasy series in the style of classic fantasy. I am excited to continue this wonderfully queer series.

Varela, Nina. (2019). Crier's War. New York: HarperTeen.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow is a beautiful historical fantasy novel.

January Scaller lives in a mansion filled with rare and old things like an over crowded museum. Her father works for Mr. Locke by traveling all over collecting artifacts. Mr. Locke has raised January in his absence with a string of tutors.

In a trunk in one of the rooms, January found a book. She is not sure who left it, but she thinks it may have been a gift to her. It is a kind of biography of a woman and the man who is trying to find her. A woman who seems to be able to travel to elsewhere.

Once when January was younger, she traveled with Mr. Locke to the middle of the country. There she found a door that seems to call out to her to be opened. When she opened it, the place on the other side seemed like elsewhere. Maybe another world. When she told Mr. Locke, he had the door burned.

Now she remember that door. One she sometimes thought she made up. If the woman in the book could find these doors, maybe January can, too.

Harrow has written a beautiful fantasy novel. It is set in the early 1900s and deals with class, race and more within the story of January Scaller. It is a book of wonder, sadness and courage. After reading this, I will read anything Harrow writes!

Harrow, Alix E. (2019). The Ten Thousand Doors of January. New York: Redhook.

Strangers and Cousins

Strangers and Cousins by Leah Hager Cohen is about a family coming together for a wedding - and so much more.

In Rundle Junction, New York (a fictional town) in the Catskills, Benita and Walter are preparing to have hordes descend upon their family home for their daughter's wedding. Benita is the fifth generation of her family to live in her house - which was once also a general store and post office.

The first to arrive is her great aunt Glad, picked up from her retirement home by Walter. She is 94 years old and lives as much in her memories as she does in the present. Through her we learn of the history of Rundle Junction and the famous pageant of 1927.

Clem their artistic, passionate eldest daughter will not let them help with any wedding preparations. They have no idea what to expect as her friends arrive all week long for the ceremony.

Told through many wonderful, and some annoying, characters this is the story of both family and society. Both the ghosts of the past and the present changes reveal the character of the town and people in general. The sections from the youngest son's point of view are rich and lush as he imagines his way through the jungles of the back yards.

Leah Hager Cohen includes some that other authors would ignore. She is really a master of story telling. This book was a surprise and a delight.

Cohen, Leah Hager. (2019). Strangers and Cousins. New York: Riverhead Books.

The Last Woman in the Forest

The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets is murder mystery in which the main character reaches out to a detective because she has questions about her boyfriend.

Marian Engstrom works with the National Parks on studies. She began her first job in the frozen oils sands of northern Alberta. Working with rescue dogs to study endangered wildlife, Marian falls for her trainer, Tate.

Between studies, employees stay at The Den in Colorado. Training dogs who are on breaks as well, keeping them in top form from the next job. Tate is on another assignment and Marian is at The Den when she hears of his death.

Something does not sit right with Marian and she reaches out to a retired forensic profiler, Nick. Not about Tate's death, but about something he told her that does not add up. Tate says he found one of the victims of the Stillwater Killer, a man who is believed to have killed four women and left them in the wilderness.

Combining a fascinating career in wildlife studies with a brutal serial killer mystery, Les Becquest has written another novel in which the outdoors plays a main roll. Her books are an interesting combination of thriller/suspense and the psychology of both killers and their victims. This is a haunting novel of hope and fear.

Les Becquets, Diane. (2019). The Last Woman in the Forest. New York: Berkley.

Breaking Wild

Breaking Wild by Diane Les Becquets is a story of wilderness, search and rescue, and not giving up.

Amy Raye Latour is hunting elk. She is with two friends in the Colorado wilderness. In late November, rifle season is open, but she prefers to hunt with a bow. First thing in the morning, she leaves with the truck for a day of solitude and stalking.

When she does not return to camp, her friends report her missing. She is off any marked trail, possibly lost or hurt.

Ranger Pru Hathaway of the BLM is an archaeological law enforcement officer, tasked with protecting sites from looting and vandalism. She and her dog spend a lot of time hiking the back country and are both trained in search and rescue.

Alternating chapters between Amy and Pru, this tale of the wilds tells of both women's love for the outdoors, the backgrounds that lead them there and the strength it takes to be alone in the wilderness. This is both a thriller and the story of two lives. A great read. If you are an Anna Pigeon by Nevada Barr fan, this is for you.

Les Becquets, Diane. (2016). Breaking Wild. New York: Berkley.

Continental Divide: A History of American Mountaineering

Continental Divide: A History of American Mountaineering by Maurice Isserman is the history of mankind trying to conquer nature. From a man in the first colonies on North America through the present, this history tells of the reasons, the technical advances and the exploration of the higher altitudes.

When a man in the Massachusetts Bay colony wanted to walk up a mountain, the native guides he hired would not join him in the land they believed belonged to the evil spirits. His fellow colonists thought him very odd. He was the first man to climb up Mt Washington, then called Agiocochook.

Filled with familiar names in history, Isserman has written a wonderful book of exploration, covering walking, hiking and climbing. If you are a hiker, this is your favorite book! If not, you will want to ge out in nature when you are done reading. Look for names like John Muir, Annie Peck, John C Fremont, Yvon Chouinard and more.

Isserman, Maurice. (2016). Continental Divide: A History of American Mountaineering. New York: W W Norton & Co.

A Bookshop in Berlin

A Bookshop in Berlin: The Rediscovered Memoir of One Woman's Harrowing Escape from the Nazis by Francoise Frenkel. A true story kept in journals and published years ago, given a second life by Stephanie Smee's English translation.

Francoise Frenkel fell in love with the French language. She notices that there are many French speaking people in Berlin, but there is no place to buy books in French. After many forms and explanitions to government oficals, La Masion du Livre opened in 1921. As Germany changes, Frenkel faces more paperwork and harassment as a foreign, Jewish shop owner.

This incredible tale of keeping one step ahead of the Nazis as she makes her way to safety is the real life story that makes fictional accounts pale. With the help of strangers, family and friends all can be overcome.

Frenkel, Francoise. (2017). A Bookshop in Berlin. New York: Atria Books

The Wild Inside

The Wild Inside by Christine Carbo is a mystery in which the detective learns as much about himself as the case.

Ted Systead is a special agent with the National Parks system. He is a detective that comes in to help out when the local rangers need it.

It has been twenty years since he has set foot in Glacier National Park. As the age of fourteen, Ted was camping when they were attached by a grizzly. His father a killed.

Now a case that looks like a bear attach has his back at Glacier. Not only will he need to solve the case of who tied a man to a tree where he was eaten by a bear, but deal with the memories of his childhood trauma.

Carbo has written a psychological thriller for the main character, embedded into a mystery in a beautiful setting. It is as much a story of man against nature as it is a mystery. This is the first book in her Glacier Mystery series.

Carbo, Christine. (2015). The Wild Inside. New York: Atria.