The Degenerates

Rose, her sister Maxine and Alice have lived at the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded most of their lives. It is an institution for any girls or women deemed other or who had nowhere else to go or were unwanted by their families (poor, marginalized or disabled girls). The place is full of bullies, vicious attendants, and very little happiness. But the three girls have worked out a life that works for them.

Maxine does everything she can to protect her sister Rose who is likely on the Autism spectrum. Alice is her best friend who was given up because she was born with a clubbed foot.

London is in foster care. She lives with an old woman who spends her days yelling insults and profanity out of her window. When London is taken away and sent to the school, she vows to escape.

Told through four voices The Degenerates is an historical novel that looks at the harsh life that was true of many, many people. Mann has written it with sensitivity and hope, turning it into a beautiful telling of an awful situation.

Mann, J. Albert. (2020). The Degenerates. New York: Atheneum.

Yerba Buena

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour is about two people who each is trying to make it in the Los Angeles food scene. 

Sara Foster and Emilie Dubois arrived in LA in two very different ways, but they meet at the restaurant Yerba Buena - a place where Emilie grew up going on special occasions with her family and is her dream job, and Sara is starting as head bartender after fighting her way up from a rough start.

Emilie's family moved to Southern California after WWII, when many Black and Creole families left the south. 

Sara grew up in Northern California and took care of her brother after their mother died. Her father is in and out of jail. Which is way she chose to go to LA with a virtual stranger instead of staying at home.

LaCour is one of my favorite storytellers. Ever since I read her book Everything Leads to You I was hooked! Read this author!

LaCour, Nina. (2022). Yerba Buena. New York: Flatiron Books.

The Stone Sky (Broken Earth Trilogy #3)

The Stone Sky is the final book in NK Jemisin's amazing Broken Earth trilogy.

There are two factions who don't know they are about to meet at the battle for the Earth - either to save it from the instability it has been experiencing or to end it for good.

Essun is traveling north, the opposite direction from where her daughter Nassun was taken. She has been fighting to catch up since the Season started. Things keep getting in the way. Not that travel of any kind is easy during a Season.

Nassun isn't where her mother thinks she is anymore anyway. She is on her way to the place where she can use her newly controlled magic to change the world that thinks she is evil for having magic at all. 

In this explosive finally, Jemisin reminds us that she is not only an amazing writer, but a vastly creative mind. Read this series. Read everything N.K. Jemison ever writes!

Jemisin, N.K. (2017). The Stone Sky. New York: Orbit.

Terciel & Elinor (Old Kingdom #6)

Terciel & Elinor by Garth Nix is the sixth installment in his Old Kingdom / Abhorsen series. 

Elinor was raised in Ancelstierre, south of the wall that block the magic of the Old Kingdom. Never in her childhood was magic even mentioned. 

Terciel was gathered by the current Abhorsen, Tizanael, from the orphanage he has live in since his parents and sister died. He will become the next Abhorsen in Waiting - learning all of the Charter magic needed to keep the dead in death and from coming back to the world to cause trouble. 

Their paths cross when a necromancer begins to summon the dead to attack Elinor. 

Nix has written this prequel, starring the parents of Sabriel, to the delight of his fans. What started out as the Abhorsen trilogy is one of my favorite fantasy series ever!

Nix, Garth. (2021). Terciel & Elinor. New York: Katherine Tegan Books.

Fleet of Knives (Embers of War #2)

Fleet of Knives by Gareth Powell is the second book in his science fiction series Embers of War. 

After making contact with a fleet of alien ships the Trouble Dog and crew or back to regular work - rescuing anyone who calls for help in the Human Generality. 

The latest call is from a ship that was somehow attacked in the higher levels of space - a place humans thought was empty.

Powell has created a unique space opera series that is a fun read for any fans of science fiction.

Powell, Gareth. (2019). Fleet of Knives. New York: Titan Books.

Fevered Star (Between Earth and Sky #2)

Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse is the second book in her Between Earth and Sky fantasy series set in the pre-Colombian Americas.

Naranpa, the former sun priest, is in the city below recovering from being de-throned right off of a cliff - an overthrow that saved her life. Everyone in the Sky Made Clans thinks her dead. 

The arrival of what appears to be the Crow God reborn is bringing pilgrims to the part of the city controlled by the Crows - in the hopes of seeing the Odo Sedoh again. Xiala, the Teek sea captian who brought that man to the city is one of them. 

Most of the city is in chaos. In other parts, factions are ready to take over the sky city. The 200-year-old peace has been broken by the attack of the Odo Sedoh. 

Roanhorse has created a dynamic series. If you like fantasy, this is a series for you!

Roanhorse, Rebecca. (2022). Fevered Star. New York: Saga Press.

The Diamond Eye

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn is yet another amazing historical novel from a great storyteller.

Mila Pavilchencko is a Ukrainian/Russian history student. Studying in Kiev and working in the library, she is trying to make her and her son's life better. 

At fifteen, Mila became a mother. A few years later, on one of the very rare days the father takes him for the day, Mila decides to become a mother and father so that they never need to see that man again. In preparation, she takes a course on marksmanship. The course does more than that, it gives Mila the skills to become a sniper. Something that is about to become a very important skill.

When Germany invades, Mila immediately signs up to fight. Unlike the US, Russia had no problem allowing women to serve in combat. As an already skilled sniper, Mila works her way up the ranks. 

Quinn has written a couple of books on real women who fought in World War II. This latest installment is every bit as mesmerizing. 

Quinn, Kate. (2022). The Diamond Eye. NY: William Morrow.

The Obelisk Gate (Broken Earth Trilogy #2)

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemison is the second book in her Broken Earth trilogy. This second book takes place moments after the first ends.

Essun is in Castrima, a comm built in an underground geode - a place most people would never go given the instability of the Earth. But times change when a Season is upon them. The only goal is to survive.

Nassun is with her father. His plan is to find a rumor place where orogenes can be fixed. They are headed to the Arctics.

Essun is learing that there is something she can do using the obelisks in a chain or gate to affect the moon. What the moon is, she is not sure. No one has seen it for generations - since it was flung away from the Earth, making the Earth mad at humans and beginning the war.

Jemison is an amazing writer and storyteller. Each of the three books in this series won the Hugo Award. The Broken Earth trilogy rivals any fantasy written. I will be reading everything she writes in her career!

Jemison, NK. (2016). The Obelisk Gate. New York: Orbit.

A Sunlit Weapon (Maisie Dobbs #17)

A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear is her seventeenth book featuring detective and psychologist Maisie Dobbs. 

October 1942. ATA pilots ferry planes to bases and around the United Kingdom. These female pilots make sure the planes are where they need to be for the male pilots to use on bombing runs.

Jo Hardy is shot at while ferrying a plane to Biggin Hill. A friend a is later shot down in the same location. When Jo drives back to the area to investigate, she finds a US soldier tied up in an old barn. 

Hardy hires Maisie to find out who is shooting at the planes and why. When Maisie needs to interview the US soldier, she runs into both US bureaucracy and racism, as well as her husband's job. 

Maisie Dobbs is probably my favorite fictional character! Winspear is a wonderful writer who fills her books with accurate history, fully formed characters, intrigue and a real sense of being there. If you are a fan of history, mystery or just good writing, buy the first book in series today.

Winspear, Jacqueline. (2022). A Sunlit Weapon. New York: Harper.

Portrait of a Thief: A Novel

Portrait of a Spy by Grace D. Li is a tour de force heist story.

For most of human history museums have displayed art and artifacts that were "collected" during colonialist invasions and wars. The cultures from whom these pieces belong have long tried to reclaim them via diplomatic channels. This rarely works.

Will Chen, a college senior, was working in the museum on the Harvard campus when it was robbed. The crew took only Chinese art. When he got home, he had a business card in his pocket from a Chinese corporation - the head of which wants to hire him and some friends to repatriate five zodiac heads that were taken from the Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860.

Gathering his sister and three friends, the group travels to Beijing to meet with the head of the corporation. 

Irene Chen, Will's sister, seems to float through life, getting what she wants by asking.

Daniel Liang, a childhood friend of Will and Irene, is a sometimes thief whose father is the foremost expert on Chinese Art in the FBI.

Lily Wu, Irene's college roommate, can drive anything with an engine better than most anyone else.

Alex Huang, a software engineer, is in the moment she hacks the museum Will was in when it was robbed, erasing a few seconds of footage.

Already being made into a series by Netflix, this is a fast-paced thrill-ride through some of the most famous museums in the western world - with a dose of reality on accusation policies of those museums.  You will be up late because you will not be able to stop reading until the end! 

Li, Grace D. (2022). Portrait of a Thief. New York: Tiny Reparations Books.

The Fifth Season (Broken Earth #1)

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison is the first book in the Broken Earth fantasy trilogy. 

Damaya has been locked in the barn by her parents. She has shown signs of orogeny - a magical-like power to manipulate earth, including the ability to cause shakes. She will remain in the barn until a Guardian - who can negate orogeny - collects her and takes her to the Fulcrum for training.

Essun is the mother of two who has been hiding her orogeny for years. Now her husband has noticed the power in one of their children. 

Syenite is a Fulcrum trained orogene. She is being assigned to a higher-level orogene to travel across the land and fix a harbor. 

But the world is about to enter a Fifth Season - on top of the usual yearly seasons, a fifth season is when the land splits and blocks out the sky. People will need to do all they can to survive until the sun comes back and they can rebuild.

Jemison is an amazing, creative writer. This ecological fanstay series is quickly becoming one of my favortie series!

Jemison, N.K. (2015). The Fifth Season. New York: Orbit.

The Last Bookshop in London (Novel of WWII #1)

The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin is the first book in her Novels of WWII series. 

In August of 1939, Grace Bennett and her best friend Viv are moving to London. They will live with Grace's mother's best friend, Mrs. Weatherford, and her son Colin. 

While Viv has a letter of reference that allows her to apply for the job she wants at a department store, Grace does not. Her uncle, whose shop she practically ran, refused to write one. Mrs. Weatherford has an idea, she will convince / cajole the owner of the bookstore to hire Grace for six months.

While Grace has shop experience, she is not a reader. She does not understand the appeal. 

Martin has written a wonderful story that takes place as London prepares for possible air raids and takes us through to the conclusion of the war. 

This is a great read to take with you on vacation. Reserve it as your local library today 

Martin, Madeline. (2021). The Last Bookshop in London. Toronto: Hanover Square Press.

Gender Queer: A Memoir

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe is a beautiful book - both visually and in the story.

Written about eir path to identifying as nonbinary and experiences about gender and sexuality through childhood. Maia wrote this book both as a master's project for eir MFA in Graphic Novels and as a way to explain nonbinary to parents and extended family. 

This is a beautiful memoir. One that will fill a hole in the stories about people with different experiences. It will give young people who may be genderqueer the gift of seeing themselves in a book - an experience that is much needed for everyone. 

There is no book quite like it. E does not shy away from any of the often difficult things that led em to identify as eir true self today. 

For a much more eloquent post about why this book is so amazing and important, click here. In the meantime, please make sure your local library owns a copy, both for people trying to understand a family member and those trying to communicate themselves to others. Thank you Maia for this gift.

Kobabe, Maia. (2019), Gender Queer: A Memoir. Portland: Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group.

Embers of War (Embers of War #1)

Embers of War by Gareth L Powell is a great science fiction novel with an AI ship as one of the main characters. 

The Trouble Dog, designed as one of five fighting ships, retired her commission a the end of the last war and is now working with the House of Reclamation. The House has a ragtag fleet of ships and people who go where they need to help rescue of those who need it.

Captain Sal Konstanz is from a planet that was entirely destroyed during the last war. She has always been on the side of helping, flying a first aid resupply ship during the war. She actually comes from a long line of people who, unlike all other humans in the galaxy, do not seek riches or fame, but just to do their part for all living creatures. 

When a cruise ship sends a distress signal from the Artefact system, Trouble Dog, Sal and the crew are the closest ship that can help. 

Ona Sudek, a poet who has gained some acclaim from her war poetry is on the cruise ship when it is hit. They crash into one of the planets called artefacts because someone carved them into shapes. This one looks like a giant brain. 

This first book in the Embers of War series is a great read of any science fiction fans, but particularly of the Patricia Hutchins series by Jack McDevitt. 

Powell, Gareth L. (2018). Embers of War. London: Titan Books.

The Spacetime War

The Spacetime War by Les Johnson is a space opera stand-alone. 

On leave from the British Commonwealth Space Navy, Captain Winslow Price he decided to take a cruise on a space cruiser. When the ship a crew attempts a hijacking, he is in the right place to help. Also on board and having the same idea as him - to secure the engine to disable the ship so authorities can find them - India Space Force Captain Anika Ahuja has already taken out a couple of the hostiles. 

When an unknown ship attacks a colony world, both captains will find themselves at war with an unknown enemy who is apparently bent on taking out all human life in the universe. 

Johnson has written a great space opera with the feel of an Honor Harrington / Manitcore novel from David Weber. Fans of science fiction, buy this book today!

Johnson, Les. (2021). The Spacetime War. New York: Baen. 

Regeneration

Regeneration by Pat Barker is the story of the effects of war on soldiers. It is the first book in a trilogy following the same men from their time under the care of a psychiatrist through the end of World War I. 

In 1917 Siegfried Sassoon, a poet and war hero, refuses to continue serving in the war due to the senseless slaughter. He is classified as mentally unsounds and sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital in Scotland. 

Psychiatrist Dr. William Rivers is in charge of helping a cast of soldiers in various degrees of trauma from the war. He believes in the controversial idea that men should talk about the things that happened to them instead of pushing down their feelings. 

Based on actual people, Barker has created the story of what war does to the people who fight it. She challenges the relationship between doctor and patient, between classes, between men and women, and between men and men. 

This book should be required reading. 

Book two is The Eye in the Door, and book three The Ghost Road. 

Barker, Pat. (1991). Regeneration. New York: Plume.

Out of Time

Out of Time by David Klass is an environmental thriller.

Green Man is a terrorist who is committing acts in the name of waking people up to climate change and the fact that soon it will be too late to make the changes that may keep the Earth inhabitable. 

Each target is a threat to the environment. Once the attack happens a letter is sent to the media explaining why that industry must change. 

Tom Smith is a young FBI agent who finds patterns. He is assigned to the task force searching for Green Man. 

This is a great thriller. Klass has written a fast-paced ride. 

Klass, David. (2020). Out of Time. New York: Dutton.

Binti: The Complete Trilogy

Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor is a great science fiction series. To read the books individually, they are: 1. Binti; 2. Home; 3. The Night Masquerade. 

Binti is the first of the Himba people to be accepted to the Oomza Univeristy - the most diverse university of the universe. Very few humans from anywhere have been accepted. 

In Binti's family and culture people do not leave. But she wants so badly to go that she sneaks out and gets on the spaceship. 

When the spaceship is attacked by aliens, Binti is the only survivor. When she realizes she can communicate with the aliens and that they are taking the ship to the University to attack an old enemy. 

Okorafor is a wonderful storyteller. Binti is a great character who is navigating a whole new universe with aplomb. 

Okorakor, Nnedi. (2019). Binti: The Complete Trilogy. New York: Daw.

The Lola Quartet

The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel follows journalist Gavin Sasaki as he heads from New York City to his hometown of Sebastian, Florida for a story.

While in town on a story of how the wilds of Florida are both getting closer to people's homes as development expands and is getting more dangerous as exotic pets are released when their humans cannot handle them anymore, Gavin has dinner with his sister Elio. Elio is a real estate agent who deals with foreclosures. 

While in a house, Elio saw a young girl who looked exactly like her. When she asked the girl's name, be suspected that the little girl was Gavin's with his high school girlfriend. Elio took a photo of the girl.

The photo has two different effects. Gavin begins a search for his ex-girlfriend - who never told him that she was pregnant. And the woman with whom the girl was staying thinks she has been found by a man that has been hunting for her most of her life. 

Mandel has written a tense, twisty novel that follows Gavin's search for his high school girlfriend. Told in flashbacks as he interviews the people he grew up with, a story unfolds of both circumstance and choices. Mandel is a masterful storyteller.

Mandel, Emily St. John. (2012). The Lola Quartet. New York: Unbridled Books.

The Singer's Gun

The Singer's Gun by Emily St. John Mandel is a story of life choices.

Anton Walker was raised by the owners of an antiques salvage shop in New York City. In this case, salvage mostly means stolen. His dream as a kid was to work in an office, but out of high school he and his cousin Aria started a forgery business - helping immigrants work quasi-legally.

Anton was originally saving money for college, but at some point, decided to skip the classes and make himself a diploma. Now he works in an office in Manhattan. He is engaged to a cellist, has a rescued cat, and is kinda happy.

When his honeymoon location is convenient to a job Aria is working, she offers to pay him a lot of money to receive and envelope and pass it on to someone. Then he will be clear of the business and she will forgive him for leaving it in the first place. 

Mandel is an amazing writer - both they type whose words make you stop and reread a beautiful sentence, and the type whose twists and turns make for a mesmerizing ride.

Mandel, Emily St. John. (2010). The Singer's Gun. New York: Unbridled Books.

Station Eleven

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is about the world after a pandemic kills the majority of humans. 

Beginning in the last days of the current civilization, then jumping a few years into the future, we see how life has changed for the survivors. 

Kristen was a young girl when the plague happened. She was already drawn to acting, so her membership in the Traveling Symphony years later is no surprise. The group of actors and musicians travel along the edge of Lake Michigan, stopping in the towns to perform, trade news and supplies, and provide a break from the new normal for the town folks.

This is all I will say about the details. This is one of the best post-apocalyptic stories I have read. Mandel does not shy away from the dark parts of the change, but also does not gratuitously explain each gory detail. In fact, the plague was so fast and efficient, it is over quickly. 

Read the book before you watch the HBO series based on the book. 

Mandel, Emily St. John. (2014). Station Eleven. New York: Alfred A Knopf.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (Singing Hills Cycle #2)

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo is the second book in the Singing Hills Cycle of fantasy novellas with the feel of a loved folk tale.

Cleric Chih continues their journey to gather stories. Needing a ride up the mountain, they are offered a ride by Si-yu and her mammoth Piluk. She will get them to the next way station where they will travel to their next planned destination.

Before they can reach safety, the mammoth is surrounded by three tigers. After a standoff, Chih offers a story to the tiger in exchange for their safety. Tigers love stories. If the story is good enough, she will not eat them.

Chih tells the intricate story of the famous tiger ancestor who took a human lover. But for every part of the story that the tiger feels is wrong, they will be closer to becoming dinner.

I love this series! Deceptively simple seeming stories (based on the length of the books) are packed with history, cultural wisdom, and everything else a good story should be. 

Vo, Nghi. (2020). When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain. New York: TOR.

Noor

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor is a science fiction book that feels like the near future.

Anwuli Okwudili - who prefers to be called AO - has enhanced limbs due to birth defects. She chose to have surgeries to replace her useless limbs with state-of-the-art technology. This tech makes some people in her world think of her as unnatural - a cross point between tradition and religion of the past and the possibilities of the future. 

When she is attacked in the market, these enhancements save her life, but now she is on the run. She has no one who will harbor her, so she heads into the northern Nigerian desert. Where she comes across a man with two cows. 

DNA (he also prefers to be called by his initials) is a Fulani herdsman. He was traveling with all of his cattle and a few other herds. When they tried to go through a town they were attacked. But the videos only start when he is defending himself. Now he and his two remaining cows, Carpe Diem and GPS, are heading north to find help.

The only place to hide is the natural disaster in the desert - the Red Eye - a continuous sandstorm that has been raging for years. There is rumor of a safe haven in the middle of it. 

Okorafor has written a timely, compelling novel of corporations, social media, and the human ability to adapt. This is a beautifully told tale of the crossroads of so many things facing us in this time - all coming to a crashing head in the African desert. Read this today.

Okorafor, Nnedi. (2021). Noor. New York: Daw Books.