The Bookshop on the Corner (Kirrinfief #1)

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan is the first book in her romance series that takes place in Kirrinfief, Scotland. (First published under the name The Little Shop of Happily-Ever-After.)

Nina Redmond is a librarian. Her job and calling in life is to find the right book for each person. But when her library branch is downsized she doesn't know what she is going to do. The library sends them to a training where they are encouraged to find some other job, as there will only be a few open spots for the many employees being displaced.

The workshop leader asks Nina what she would do if she could do anything in the world. She says open a bookstore. Her roommate agrees - there are so many books in their flat she is concerned the floors will give out soon!

Because she doesn't want the overhead of a shop, it is suggested to her to find a van and create a mobile shop. Taking a risk she travels from London to a village in Scotland where someone is selling a bread van. 

Colgan has created romance series set in the beautiful but start land of Kirrinfief, near Loch Ness. Her book is funny, sweet and endearing. A perfect vacation read.

Colgan, Jenny. (2016). The Bookshop on the Corner. New York: William Morrow.

Cantoras

Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis is an historic novel of military governed Uruguay in the late 1970s and a group of lesbians who find each other and create a beach hideaway that helps them survive their circumstances.

In 1977 Uruguay is run by "the Process" which is little spoken of - it is too dangerous to say anything about the current dictatorship - but controls most aspects of daily life. 

Flaca, the daughter of a butcher in Montevideo, invites her friend and ex-girlfriend Romina and a couple of other women to a beach escape. Cabo Polonio is an isolated cape with only a tiny fishing village. 

Here, out of the eyes of others, the women can be themselves. A break they desperately need in their oppressive time. 

This trip leads to returns, until the (now five women) pool their money and buy a rundown beach shack This is the setting for the epic tale of the next decades of their lives and the changes that come to Uruguay. 

De Robertis is a wonderful writer who captures a difficult period in history and how those whose very nature went against the rules survived until a better time. I love this book. I am already making my way through everything else she writes. A must read for queer women everywhere!

De Robertis, Carolina. (2019). Cantoras. New York: Knoph. 

Tremontaine

Tremontaine is the latest book in the Swords of Riverside series - this volume written by authors who are fans of the original three books. It takes place fifteen years before Swordspoint. 

Ixbaab Balam is a spy from across the sea. She is in a London-like city with her family who import chocolate. They are the only source of chocolate, a fad that has taken the upper classes by storm.

Micha is a farm girl, in the city with her cousin to sell vegetables. She is dressed as a boy to make her work easier. She is a math genius. When she meets Rafe, a university student, on a delivery she joins him in class.

Tess lives in Riverside, a lower class neighborhood where the regular people live. Although there is nothing common about Tess - as Ixkaab notices on first glance.

Diane, Duchess Tremontaine, is a member of the ton. Anything she does is to be copied. She is in the process of trying to save the Tremontaine name in spite of some bad investments. 

This series is a fun, swashbuckling tale of Regency times. The authors of this volume have captured the feel and tone of the originals by Kushner. A must read for fantasy fans.

Kushner, Ellen. (2017), Tremontaine. New York: Saga Press.

The Twenty-Ninth Day: Surviving a Grizzly Attack in the Canadian Tundra

The Twenty-Ninth Day: Surviving a Grizzly Attack in the Canadian Tundra by Alex Messenger is a harrowing tale set in a beautiful topography. 

After growing up going to kayaking camp each summer, Alex Messenger joins four other high school seniors and one adult for a six hundred mile trek / paddle across the Canadian taiga, tundra and lakes in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. 

The group is transported by small plane to Wholdia Lake to start their adventure. The planed route is forty-two days long. They will not likely see any other humans until they overlap with a group of young women doing a different path that leads to the same final village. 

The trip is gorgeous. It is land that few people see. The lakes and portages are beautifully described. It is the trip of a lifetime.

Then on the twenty-ninth day, a day of rest, Alex takes a short walk on an island in the middle of a huge lake. He has napped and missed the rest of the group who have just returned from their walk. He plans to climb the hill and get some photographs of the landscape.  

It is rate to even see a grizzly bear. The team had seen two already on the trail - both a safe distance away. But this day Alex surprises one. He fights back, using his hard-sided camera case to swing at the bear. But he is badly hurt. When he comes to, with no idea how long he was unconscious, he can see the bear leaving from the corner of his eye. 

Once the bear is out of site, Alex used his last adrenaline to get back to camp. Then he has to decide if his injuries can be taken care of in the wild, or a helicopter or plane should pick him up. The next part of the trek includes daily check ins on the satellite phone, consulting with doctors in Minnesota, where the guys live. Each day is a balance between staying (thought to be better for PTS) or getting medical attention from an actual doctor. 

Messenger used his journals and the input of his trip mates to put together his incredible story. Even in spite of the attack, after reading this, I would jump at the chance to canoe though Canada! Read this book for an amazing, real-life, adventure. 

Messenger, Alex. (2019). The Twenty-Ninth Day: Surviving a Grizzly Attack in the Canadian Tundra. Oregon: Blackstone Publishing.

Leave the World Behind

 Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam is a different kind of dystopian or apocalyptical novel as it takes place during the event - when no one yet knows what is happening. 

Amanda and Clay, and their children Rose and Archie, are taking a vacation from NYC. They rented an Airbnb on Long Island where they plan to spend a quiet week of rest and relaxation.

On their second or third night, there is a late night knock at the door. A couple is there saying it is their house and that something has happened in the city. GH and Ruth drove the couple of hours instead of returning to their city apartment. 

They cannot say what, exactly, has happened. Radios, cell phones, cable and internet are out. They request to stay in the downstairs bedroom until someone can figure out what is going on.

At first the couples are focused on small things. Ruth feels strange having people in her home - usually the house is cleaned and put back together before she and GH return. Clay and Amanda feel strange having the owners there - should be get their money back, should they leave or stay?

The chaos and uncertainty come across in the writing, making readers on edge as they hope to find out what caused the terror. But like the characters, we will never know. 

Alam has taken a popular genre and created a story that others often gloss over - the onset of the change. It is an effective and unsettling tale.

Alam, Rumaan. (2020). Leave the World Behind. New York: Ecco.

Storm the Earth (Shatter the Sky #2)

Storm the Earth by Rebecca Kim Wells is the sequel to her young adult fantasy book Shatter the Sky.

Maren is on the run with a baby dragon. She is still trying to get to Kaia and rescue her. However, the resistance to the emperor is growing and keeps pulling at her attention.

This series has a strong female protagonist who changes everything in her lift to rescue her girlfriend and try to free the dragons that were captured by the emperor and his Talons. 

Wells has written a fun, fast-paced young adult fantasy series. The heroine sets off on a personal quest only to ultimately give her all to free a race of ancient, majestic creatures that her people used to worship. 

Wells, Rebecca Kim. (2020). Storm the Earth. New York: Simon & Schuster.

The Office of Historical Corrections

The Office of Historical Corrections: A Novella & Short Stories by Danielle Evans is a book of powerful stories. These amazingly well written stories vary but all have aspects of race or racism. They are smart, timely and haunting.

Included:

Happily Ever After

Richard of Your Gave Battle in Vain

Boys Go To Jupiter

Alcatraz

Why Won't Women Just Say What They Want

Anything Could Disappear

The Office of Historical Corrections

After reading this collection, I will be reading everything else that Danielle Evans has or does publish! I just ordered her collection titled, Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self.

Evans, Danielle. (2020). The Office of Historical Corrections. New York: Riverhead. 

Piranesi

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is one of my favorite books of the last few years. It is a story that can be read a philosophy, a look at the human condition, or just a beautiful story of the awe people see in the world around them.

The House has hundreds of rooms and vestibules, all filled with statures. All room's statues are different than those of the other rooms. And the House makes up the entirety of the world.

A few rooms have collapse into the sea and become the Drowned Rooms where you can fish, collect seaweed and watch the birds.

Piranesi knows the house. He has explored and mapped his world. He knows the tides that sometimes close off sections. He has made a life with what his world has to offer.

The only other living person in this life, simply called the Other, meets with him twice per week. He is researching a Great and Secret Knowledge. He and Piranesi could not be more different in their approach to life.

This is all I can say without giving too much away. I absolutely love this book. Buy a copy today from your favorite local bookshop. 

Clarke, Susanna. (2020). Piranesi. New York: Bloomsbury.