The Vaster Wilds

 

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff is a look at life for women in the American colonies.

A servant girl has escaped from a starving colony. The colony is so destitute that there is no wood left to burn or food to eat. She thinks she has a better chance of surviving in the wilds that in a place that where people will do anything to make it through winter.

She has planned ahead and stolen a knife, an ax, books, a cup, a flint and two covers and wears all of the clothing she could fit on her body. 

She will try to make it in the wilderness - living off of the land and hiding from those sent to find her while avoiding the nations of the land and dangerous animals. 

Lauren Groff is one of the great writers of our time. She captures the feelings and harshness of the land while making readers root for a likely doomed young woman. This is a masterpiece of evocative writing. 

Groff, Lauren. (2023). The Vaster Wilds. New York: Riverhead Books. 

Mammoths at the Gate (Singing Hills Cycle #4)

Mammoths at the Gate by Nghi Vo is the fourth book of the Singing Hills Cycle - a collection of novellas that read like folk tales. 

Cleric Chih is going back to the Singing Hills monastery after four years of traveling and collecting stories. They are excited to see their neixin, Almost Brilliant, after she left to hatch eggs. 

When Chih arrives, there are two royal mammoths guarding the gate. Two sisters who want to reclaim their grandfather's body for their family, something that is not done once someone becomes a cleric. 

Chih talks his way past the giant mammoths with a promise to help talks between the sisters and the monks. They find that most of the monks are away collecting stories and that their classmate Ru has been left in charge. 

Vo's series is a collection of beautiful storytelling. These small books pack a lot in. Read these books!

Vo, Nghi. (2023). Mammoths at the Gate. New York: TOR.  

The Collector (Gabriel Allon #23)

The Collector by Daniel Silva is the 23rd book in the Gabriel Allon series - a Mossad agent who wanted to be a painter. 

Gabriel is now retired and living in Venice with his wife and children. He and Chiara have opened an art restoration company. 

When General Ferrari of the art crime squad show up asking Gabriel to evaluate a painting, Gabriel knows there will be more to it than a simple appraisal. 

What he finds in the home a recently murdered shipping tycoon in Almalfi is a painting that has been missing for decades. A painting stolen from the Isabella Gardener Museum in 1990. 

What follows is classic Allon. Daniel Silva is a master of storytelling, weaving in current events, historical fact and enough suspense to keep you up all night reading. 

Silva, Daniel. (2023). The Collector. New York: Harper. 

That Flag

That Flag by Tameka Fryer Brown, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith, is the story of two school friends whose parents feel very differently about the flag outside of one of their homes. 

While Bianca and Keira are best friends at school, Keira's parents will not allow her to go to Bianca's house because of the confederate flag in the front yard. 

When the school takes a field trip to the local museum for an exhibit called Stars and Bars, Keira's father follows her through the exhibit while she absorbs the meaning and history of that flag. 

Brown has created an age-appropriate story of what the confederate flag stands for in our history and today.

Brown, Tameka Fryer. (2023). That Flag. New York: Harper.

Stickler

Stickler by Lane Smith is a beautiful picture book about someone who loves the world around himself. Stickler goes through his day enjoying everything he see and sharing it with his best friend. 

Smith, Lane. (2023). Stickler. New York: Random House. 

All the Dead Shall Weep (Gunnie Rose #5)

All the Dead Shall Weep by Charlaine Harris is the fifth book in her alternate history western series featuring Gunnie Rose and her sister Felicia.

Felicia is traveling with her best friend Peter to visit her sister Lizbeth in Texoma. Felicia is in magic school in San Diego, of the Holy Russian Empire. 

Lizbeth and her husband Eli have visited Felicia in San Deigo, but this is Felicia's first trip to Segundo Mexia, Texoma - a much more rural place than the big city she lives in. 

When an army of unknown origin comes through Segundo Mexia, Peter and Eli follow them. Felicia and Lizbeth stay and try to protect the people in town. 

Could all of this be a move by someone to take over Texoma? Or is it related to the wizard's ball coming up - where the magical families make betrothals to strengthen their lines? A ball where the very powerful Felicia will be presented for the first time.

Harris has a wonderful gift for world-building. The Gunnie Rose series is both highly entertaining and a fast read. I highly recommend reading this series. 

Harris, Charlaine. (2023). All the Dead Shall Weep. New York: Saga Press.

He Who Drowned the World (Radiant Emperor #2)

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan is the stunning conclusion to her Radiant Emperor series, an alternate history to the end of the Great Yuan and the founding of the Ming Dynasty. 

Zhu Yuanzhang, formerly Zhu Chongba, has crowned themself king of a large part of southern China, land taken back from the Mongol Yuan dynasty.

General Ouyang, who fought against Zhu, will form an uneasy alliance with Zhu to continue the destruction of the Yuan. Someone else is also pulling strings to gain the throne himself. So far, Zhu cannot figure out who that could be.

In this heart-wrenching conclusion, Parker-Chan closes this brilliantly written alternate history, queer retelling of a pivotal time in Chinese and world history. If you are a fan of history or great writing read this series. It is a feat of literature. 

Parker-Chan, Shelley. (2023). He Who Drowned the World. New York: Tor.

Fourth Wing (Empyrean #1)

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is the first book in her Empyrean fantasy series. 

Violet Sorrengail has been studying her whole life to enter Basgaith War College and become a scribe - one who keeps all of the history of Navarre. She will follow in her father's footsteps. Or so she thought. 

At the very last minute, her mother, General Sorrengail, tells her she will not become a scribe, she is going to become a dragon rider - or die trying. Odds are not in her favor as most classes lose about half of their students.

On conscription day each prospective student must cross a parapet to get to the school. If you make it across the only ways out of the school are graduation or death. If your classmates don't kill you, the dragons might. 

Yarros has written a heart pounding tale that fans of Sarah Maas will love. 

Yarros, Rebecca. (2023). Fourth Wing. PA: Red Tower Books.