Book Review: The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Parliament
Author: Aimee Pokwatka
Publisher: Tordotcom
Publication date: January 16, 2024
Length: 361 pages
Genre: Horror/fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

The Birds meets The Princess Bride in this tale of friendship, responsibility, and the primal force of nature.

“Murder owls are extreme,” Jude said. “What’s more extreme than murder owls?”

Madeleine Purdy is stuck in her home town library.

When tens of thousands of owls descend on the building, rending and tearing at anyone foolish enough to step outside, Mad is tasked with keeping her students safe, and distracted, while they seek a solution to their dilemma.

Perhaps they’ll find the inspiration they seek in her favorite childhood book, The Silent Queen….

With food and fresh water in low supply, the denizens of the library will have to find a way out, and soon, but the owls don’t seem to be in a hurry to leave…

The Parliament is a story of grief and missed opportunities, but also of courage and hope.

And of extremely sharp beaks.

Awww, look at the cute owl on the cover!

Kidding. That’s a murder owl. Not cute!

And ignore what the synopsis says about The Princess Bride — that might seem to indicate that this book is full of whimsy and silliness, and it’s nothing of the sort.

Let’s get back to the murder owls.

When Mad Purdy agrees to teach a kids’ chemistry workshop — making bath bombs — as a favor to her former best friend who works at the local library in their hometown, she has no idea what she’s in for. She’s already moved away to put distance between herself and the site of her worst memories, but in the name of friendship, agrees to do this one thing.

But that one thing, meant to just be one brief event, turns into days of waking nightmares, as the library is surrounded by millions of tiny owls. Maybe one on its own is cute. This swarm is far from it, as the trapped inhabitants learn after watching the owls descend on the first person to venture outside. It isn’t pretty.

Mad expected to be in and out in one hour, boundaries firmly in place. Instead, she’s thrust into the role of protector, keeping the kids physically and emotionally safe, or as safe as they can be, given that food, water, and medicine are running out, and the outside world seems to have no clue how to rescue them.

To keep the kids distracted, Mad begins to read to them from her favorite book, The Silent Queen — which seems to show up in the library just when needed. No one has ever heard of it before, but for Mad, it was a lifesaver through the worst days of trauma during her childhood. The story of a young queen who isolates herself in a tower, but finally has to step out of her safe zone to save her people, may seem a little on the nose, but it doesn’t feel heavy-handed. The story gives the kids something to focus on, and meanwhile starts forcing Mad out of her own inner fortress.

The Parliament can be terribly frightening, and while there are several scenes of gruesome attacks when a few people are foolish enough to venture outside, much of the horror is psychological. The people inside the library are trapped, cut off (there’s no wifi or cell service, thanks to the owl swarm), and utterly reliant on one another and whatever scraps of supplies they can scavenge. Meanwhile, the few attempts at solutions that come from outside the library seem doom to failure, and worse, put the people inside the library in even greater danger.

This book is fascinating, and the story-within-a-story approach (chapters of The Silent Queen alternate with chapters focusing on the library) keeps us on the edge of our seats with both pieces of the narrative. The Silent Queen reads like a fairy tale/fantasy quest, and it’s both lovely and dramatic. The main story, within the library itself, conveys all the terror and claustrophobia of being trapped with a bunch of strangers, with a clock ticking and no rescue on the way.

Mad herself survived a terrible incident at age eleven, and that’s impacted every aspect of her life ever since. She’s taught herself a thousand useless, random tricks and survival skills, but at the expense of allowing herself to connect with others or let anyone really know her. This may make her the perfect person for helping the children in the library, but she has to get past her own trauma before she can truly start connecting with them.

My only quibble with The Parliament, and it’s a minor one, is that there are too many adult characters in the library to keep track of. We have Mad and her best friend Farrah and her former friend and love interest Nash, but there are also librarians and a book group and some seniors and, well, they start blurring together. Ultimately, I was more interested in the kids as individuals than in the glimpses we get of the adults, and so I didn’t bother trying to keep most of them straight in my mind. Like I said, this is a pretty minor issue, and ultimately didn’t keep me from being totally engrossed in the book.

Overall, The Parliament is a fascinating read, and once I started, I just couldn’t stop. The main story and the fantasy story within it work together in complicated and surprising ways, and as the tension ratchets up, I was on the edge of my seat. The author does a terrific job of keeping the action intense and frightening, while also letting us inside the characters’ experiences and providing a look at the long-lasting effects of trauma and survivor’s guilt.

Highly recommended.

13Jan2024

Audiobook Review: Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Funny You Should Ask
Author: Elissa Sussman
Narrator: Kristen Sieh
Publisher: Dell
Publication date: April 12, 2022
Print length: 352 pages
Audio length: 7 hours 52 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

Then. Twentysomething writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing book deals, she’s in the trenches writing puff pieces. Then she’s hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker. The Gabe Parker–her forever celebrity crush, the object of her fantasies, the background photo on her phone–who’s also just been cast as the new James Bond. It’s terrifying and thrilling all at once… yet if she can keep her cool and nail the piece, it could be a huge win. Gabe will get good press, and her career will skyrocket. But what comes next proves to be life-changing in ways Chani never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing.

Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a heavy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles, laser-focused on one thing: her work. But she’s still spent the better part of the last decade getting asked about her deeply personal Gabe Parker profile at every turn. No matter what new essay collection or viral editorial she’s promoting, it always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she’s forgotten about the time they spent together, years ago. But the truth is that those seventy-two hours are still crystal clear, etched in her memory. And so… she says yes.

Chani knows that facing Gabe again also means facing feelings she’s tried so hard to push away. Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word.

A restless young journalist with big dreams interviews a Hollywood heartthrob–and, ten years later, it’s clear that their time together meant more than meets the eye in this sexy, engrossing adult debut novel.

I’ve never considered myself a fan of the celebrity romance trope… but here I am, absolutely devouring my second book by Elissa Sussman, and I gotta say — it’s working for me.

In Funny You Should Ask, author Chani Horowitz gets her big break at age 26 when she’s assigned an interview with movie star Gabe Parker. He’s just been named the next James Bond, kicking off a media frenzy of negativity, and his publicists are hoping that a positive profile will turn things around. Chani has been writing about the film industry, but hasn’t really hit her stride yet, so this is an unprecedented opportunity for her. One interview turns into a weekend of movie premieres and parties, and the article she writes catapults her into the spotlight and does wonders for Gabe’s career. Yet after the two part, real-life scandals crop up, and they go their separate ways.

Ten years later, despite her success as a published non-fiction writer, Chani has never quite shaken the gossip that’s surrounded her ever since the Gabe article. And for Gabe, the ten years have brought success as Bond, a viral public downfall, rehab, and now sobriety. As his first new movie in years is about to be released, his team asks Chani to do another interview — a chance to put Gabe back in the spotlight and give him an opportunity to show who he’s become. Chani agrees, with trepidation, but is not prepared for the deluge of feelings and memories that being with Gabe again sparks.

This book has so much to love! The “then” and “now” plotlines are interwoven skillfully, so that we only see the past events in little bits and pieces, leaving the big questions about what exactly happened and what might have gone wrong unresolved until close to the end of the book. What’s clear is that Chani and Gabe connect with one another right from the start, and while she is plagued by doubts about whether he sees her as just another fawning fan, it’s obvious to readers how much more is going on between them.

Gabe is portrayed with sensitivity. He’s a gorgeous Hollywood star, but we’re shown his vulnerable side, as well as his alcoholism and the downward spiral he falls into. Chani is flawed as well — funny and talented, but quick to jump to conclusions or read a situation incorrectly. It’s lovely to see them connect, and heartbreaking to see them misread one another, time and time again.

I really enjoyed the writing, and especially the dialogue. I mean, how can you not love a book that includes lines like this:

“I thought we’d established that I’ve read everything you’ve written.”

It’s one of the hottest things anyone has ever said to me.

The romance is, of course, central to the plot, but It’s Funny You Should Ask is also both moving and keenly interesting when focusing on Chani’s writing career, the obstacles she encounters, the negativity she encounters from people who should be her biggest supporters, and the self-doubt that plagues her no matter how well her essays and books are received.

The “then” and “now” narrative is also sprinkled throughout with excerpts from Chani’s articles and blog posts, movie reviews, gossip columns, and inside-Hollywood thought pieces. These help ground the story and show how public perceptions feed into Gabe and Chani’s personal situations.

The audiobook, narrated by Kristen Sieh, is bright and engaging. It’s a fun, upbeat listen, and the narrator’s expressiveness captures the characters’ dynamics and their inner lives very well.

I picked up It’s Funny You Should Ask after listening to the author’s more recent book, Once More With Feeling, just a few months ago. It’s safe to say that I’ll be back for whatever Elissa Sussman writes next.

13Jan2024

Reading goals: Series to read in 2024

Posted in Bookish Thoughts by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Somehow, it’s already the middle of January. How did that happen! This post is maybe a little later than originally intended, but still: Happy New Year! Here’s hoping 2024 brings joy and health for one and all!

As is my annual tradition, rather than setting a bunch of reading goals that I probably won’t achieve, I prefer to focus my bookish intentions on series reading. There are so many series out there that I want to get to!

Right now, though, I’m not feeling like committing to reading any particular series from start to finish. I don’t have any in mind that I absolutely, positively want to binge my way through. But… there are a bunch that I’ve considered starting, so for 2024, I’m switching up my focus.

Instead of full-series commitment, my 2024 priorities will focus on series I’d like to start. Who knows? Maybe some will hook me right from the start and I’ll want to keep going, but at the very least, I want to give a bunch of first-in-a-series books a try. We’ll see — if I like them… I may dive in and binge to the end!

Of course, it’s still early in the year, so I may completely change my mind about some or all of these, but as of now…

My priority series to sample/binge/finish in 2024 will be:

Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series by Mia P. Manansala: I own paperbacks of the first two books in the series, and the books as a whole come highly recommended, so I hope to at least get started!

A Stitch in Time series by Kelley Armstrong: I read the 1st book a few years ago and really liked it, but at this point, would need to start over at the beginning.

Innkeeper Chronicles or Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews: I feel like this author’s books are a gap in my fantasy reading! Both series have been recommended to me, so I may sample one or both, then see which (if either) grabs me enough to continue.

The Lady Janies series by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows: I read My Lady Jane in 2022, identified this as a series to continue in 2023, and then failed to make any progress. Hope springs eternal — maybe 2024 will be the year!

Eye of Isis by Dana Stabenow: I’m excited to read the first book in this series — Death of an Eye — with my book group next month. There are three books published so far, with a 4th in the works. If I like book 1 (and I’m confident that I will), I expect that I’ll want to keep going.

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper: This is a repeat from 2023. I just didn’t get around to these books last year, but I still really want to. I’m thinking audio might be the way to go…

And now, all my “maybe” choices — these are all series starters that I’m interested in. Maybe I’ll get to some of these in 2024, and then maybe I’ll want to read more from the same series… or maybe not. In any case, here are the other series starters that I’m considering this year:

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall
Pines by Blake Crouch (first in a trilogy, and I’m pretty sure I’ll want to read them all once I start)
Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Kitty Norville series, #1) by Carrie Vaughn
Green Rider by Kristen Britain
Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey
Legenborn by Tracy Deonn
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey (because I feel like I absolutely should have read the Valdemar books by now)
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (which, yes, has been on my series-to-read list for a few years now, but I haven’t given up!)

Are you planning to start any new series this year? If you’ve read any of the series on my list for 2024, please let me know what you thought and if you have any recommendations!

10Jan2024

Book Review: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands
Author: Heather Fawcett
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Publication date: January 16, 2024
Length: 342 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.

Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.

Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage. Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.

And she also has a new project to focus a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.

But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.

Emily Wilde is back! Last year’s Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries was a smash hit — it seemed like everyone was talking about it! Book #2 picks up relatively soon after the first book ended, with Emily and Wendell back in Cambridge, immersed in the world of scholarship and academic competition.

And while Emily is still herself, putting her studies above everything else, she now has Wendell to temper her scholarly obsessions. Her gorgeous Faerie king (and university colleague) is determine to keep Emily comfortable and do what he can to take care of her, even when she clearly doesn’t care much about being pampered. She does care about Wendell, though, and her qualms about accepting his marriage proposal have nothing to do with whether she loves him and everything to do with how dangerous she knows the Fae to be.

When Wendell’s life is threatened and Emily starts receiving mysterious visitations, they set off to the Alps to chase down a lead, hoping to finally locate Wendell’s missing door back to his own Faerie realm. Nothing is easy, though, and there are dangers galore… along with an interesting assortment of both adorable and hideous magical creatures.

This second book is a total delight, living up to the promise of the first and delivering a terrific mix of nerdy scholarship and enchanting magic. Emily is a wonderful main character, following her own path no matter where it takes her, never willing to compromise when a new discovery beckons. (Who knows, maybe she’ll even write a paper about it!)

The adventure is lots of fun, the writing is funny and fast-paced, and the overall atmosphere combines a throwback to Victorian times with a heaping dose of magical intrigue and dangers. I did feel that the climax and resolution of the quest came about almost too quickly, after a lengthy build-up, but I still felt satisfied and engaged when I got to the end, and will definitely be back for more.

The Emily Wilde books are oodles of fun, with terrific characters, a novel approach to storytelling, captivating magical worlds, and plenty of geeky delights. If you enjoy the fantasy genre, you’ll definitely want to check out these books.

9Jan2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2024

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2024.

There are so many to choose from — but since I already featured a bunch in my winter TBR post, I’ll focus on a different set of books this week.

Here are (just some of) the books I can’t wait to read in 2024!

Listed in order of release date:

The Women by Kristin Hannah (2/6/2024)
To Woo & To Wed by Martha Waters (2/6/2024)
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden (2/14/2024)
The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black (3/5/2024)
Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (3/5/2024)
Studies at the School by the Sea by Jenny Colgan (3/26/2024)
The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian (3/26/2024)
The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto (3/26/2024)
The Evolution of Annabel Craig by Lisa Grunwald (4/16/2024)
Funny Story by Emily Henry (4/23/2024)

What upcoming new releases are you most excited for? If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

8Jan2024

The Monday Check-In ~ 01/08/2024

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.

Life.

Yet another ridiculously crazy workweek, during which I had my work projects on my brain pretty much every waking moment… which meant that my ability to relax and focus on books was… let’s say, strained and unreliable. I did manage to squeeze in some reading, but always in stolen moments and with my attention pretty scattered. Ugh… but at least there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and I should get past this intense project within a few more weeks.

Other than that… it’s been quiet at the house, after our various holiday visitors headed back to their own homes. I’m trying to do a bit of cleaning and reorganizing… and yes, I’m even attempting teeny little bits of organizing when it comes to my bookshelves!

In terms of reading plans — I spent most of November and December reading randomly, according to my mood in the moment, but now that it’s January, I have (virtual) stacks of ARCs waiting to be read. Somehow, without intending to, I committed to lots of ARCs for January, February, and March, so I’m going to try my best to stay on track!

Oh, and here’s a kitty picture, just because:

I call this one “Astronaut Kitty”… but really, it’s just Benjy’s new backpack carrier, which he seems to enjoy a lot on his outings.

What did I read during the last week?

Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal: A fascinating story about mediums channeling the dead to support the British army during WWI. My review is here.

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler: The revival of the mammoth species is at the heart of this tightly written novella. My review is here.

Get Lucky by Katherine Center: A light, enjoyable audiobook listen. My review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

I’m still watching Crash Landing on You on Netflix! Most episodes are about an hour and a half, so I’m only managing one per night. I have four left — it’s so good!

All Creatures Great and Small is back for a new season! It’s so nice to spend time with James, Helen, and the gang again.

It was very rainy over the weekend, and I was annoyed at being stuck indoors… and then decided to take my self to a movie. I ended up seeing The Color Purple, and I’m so glad I did. It’s really a terrific movie, and I appreciated the musical numbers much more than I did when I saw the stage version several years ago (which was in a theater with terrible acoustics). Has anyone else seen it yet? Here’s the trailer:

Fresh Catch:

No new books this week.

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett: The follow-up to last year’s big hit, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. I’ve just passed the halfway point, and don’t want to put it down!

Now playing via audiobook:

Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman: This is my second audiobook by this author, and I’m loving it. I just wish I had more listening time — dying to see where the story goes!

Ongoing reads:

My current longer-term reads:

Outlander Book Club is doing a group re-read of Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2), reading and discussing two chapters per week. Coming up this week: Chapters 30 and 31 (of 49). Progress: 54%.
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot: My book group’s current classic read! We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. We’re back starting today, after a two-week break for the holidays. Progress: 34%.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…

7Jan2024

Audiobook Review: Get Lucky by Katherine Center

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Get Lucky
Author: Katherine Center
Narrator: Morgan Hallett
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication date: April 6, 2010
Print length: 288 pages
Audio length: 8 hours 13 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

How do you change your luck? Katherine Center’s marvelously entertaining and poignant new novel is about choosing to look for happiness—and maybe getting lucky enough to find it.

Sarah Harper isn’t sure if the stupid decisions she sometimes makes are good choices in disguise—or if they’re really just stupid. But either way, after forwarding an inappropriate email to her entire company, she suddenly finds herself out of a job.

So she goes home to Houston—and her sister, Mackie—for Thanksgiving. But before Sarah can share her troubles with her sister, she learns that Mackie has some woes of her own: After years of trying, Mackie’s given up on having a baby—and plans to sell on eBay the entire nursery she’s set up. Which gives Sarah a brilliant idea—an idea that could fix everyone’s problems. An idea that gives Sarah the chance to take care of her big sister for once—instead of the other way around.

But nothing worthwhile is ever easy. After a decade away, Sarah is forced to confront one ghost from her past after another: the father she’s lost touch with, the memories of her mother, the sweet guy she dumped horribly in high school. Soon everything that matters is on the line—and Sarah can only hope that by changing her life she has changed her luck, too.

After reading and loving Katherine Center’s five most recent novels plus one from her backlist, I decided to listen to another backlist book via audio when I stumbled across it on Hoopla. And while Get Lucky was a fun, engaging listen, it’s clear to see that this is an earlier work from an author whose books just keep getting better and better.

In Get Lucky, Houston-born Sarah is thriving at her New York ad agency. Well, okay, she got passed over for promotion in favorite of the less-qualified jerk she’d been dating… but still, her ideas have resulted in a huge campaign (more on this later) that’s getting loads of attention. Unfortunately, when an email from her sister has her spiraling in the middle of the night, she shares a link with the rest of the company (never hit Send on an all-staff email in the middle of the night!!) that’s deemed inappropriate, and she’s abruptly fired. By her jerky ex. Whose nickname is Mr. Dynamite, in case you’re wondering.

Getting fired right before Thanksgiving is not ideal, and things get worse for Sarah when she boards her flight back to Houston for the holiday and ends up seated next to her high school ex-boyfriend, who (a) has gotten incredibly hot and (b) has apparently never forgiven her for dumping him in a truly thoughtless and cruel manner (which she regrets, but of course, you can’t undo the past).

Arriving home, Sarah’s sister Mackie immediately informs her that she’s done with trying to have a baby. After yet another miscarriage related to endometriosis, Mackie is giving up on her dreams of becoming a mom. And Sarah — adrift, jobless, and without plans — has an idea. Her uterus is just fine, after all. Why not become Mackie and her husband’s gestational carrier? After a tiny pause to consider, Mackie and Clive are in, and in practically the blink of an eye, Sarah is living in Mackie’s nursery/guest room, and pregnant.

The book delves into Sarah and Mackie’s past, the death of their mother during their teen years, and how that’s affected (and continues to affect) their openness toward love, connection, and commitment. While their father continued to care for them after their loss, he was so befuddled by his own grief that his parenting was always distant and ineffectual, so the girls had to rely on one another for everything that mattered. As Sarah lives with Mackie and moves forward with the pregnancy, she also is confronted by the feelings from her past that bubble up, complicating an already complicated situation.

There’s also a love story, of sorts, which is more of a background plot thread than a front-and-center focus, which is why I wouldn’t classify this book as a romance. Sarah also deals with career choices, rebuilding a relationship with her father, and finding a new outlook on life thanks to the outrageous-but-awesome new woman in his life.

Get Lucky is enjoyable, but some elements feel especially dated or jarring, even though it was only published 13 years ago. The ad campaign launch that kicks off the story is truly atrocious — it’s a campaign for a new line of bras, and the tagline is “boob ’em”… and I won’t even go into all the ways this plays out and how awful it sounds. Later, there’s an extended plot element revolving around Sarah’s involvement with the young woman who was the ad campaign’s bra model — all of which feels unnecessary and distracting, and does nothing to move the plot forward.

Overall, I’m not sure that the story truly holds together. There are a lot of random plotlines, and Sarah’s journey sort of meanders through them all. That said, there’s also plenty of humor, some very funny dialogue, and sneaky little moments that are suddenly quite emotional and pack a punch.

Morgan Hallett’s narration is quite good, capturing Sarah’s inner voice, the zaniness of some of the side characters, and the array of voices and situations. I found this a light, entertaining listen that didn’t demand a whole lot of attention, which was perfect for my life this week.

If you’re a Katherine Center fan, or simply enjoy a sister-centric story, it’s worth checking out this backlist title.

6Jan2024

Novella review: The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Tusks of Extinction
Author: Ray Nayler
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication date: January 16, 2024
Length: 192 pages
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

When you bring back a long-extinct species, there’s more to success than the DNA.

Moscow has resurrected the mammoth, but someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out, again.

The late Dr. Damira Khismatullina, the world’s foremost expert in elephant behavior, is called in to help. While she was murdered a year ago, her digitized consciousness is uploaded into the brain of a mammoth.

Can she help the magnificent creatures fend off poachers long enough for their species to take hold?

And will she ever discover the real reason they were brought back?

A tense eco-thriller from a new master of the genre.

The synopsis kind of says it all, yet doesn’t do justice to the weirdness and wonder of The Tusks of Extinction.

The main plot points are as described: A scientist who devoted herself to studying elephants, and lost her life in the doomed fight against poachers, is returned one hundred years after her murder to a new life thanks to the digital brain mapping made before her death.

Damira’s driving passion was to save the elephants — a passion that failed. Elephants are now extinct in the wild, with only a few specimens still living on in captivity. But a team of scientists has reconstructed mammoths through the wonders of genetic technology, and new herds wander the Siberian steppes. The problem, though, is that the mammoths were gestated and raised by captive elephants. They have no social structures with species memory, and lack the skills needed to survive and thrive in the wild.

Damira’s conciousness, transferred into the brain of a mammoth matriarch, has the ability to change all that. She understands elephant dynamics better than anyone, living or dead. With Damira leading the herd, the mammoths finally have a chance to reclaim their place in the world, and perhaps reclaim space for other resurrected species as well. But poachers are still as ruthless as ever, and the black market value of mammoth tusks can make people unimaginably wealthy. It may not be enough for Damira to simply teach the mammoths the ways of elephants — she may also have to teach them to fight back.

Giants may walk the earth again, but for how long? The problem you are trying to solve — how to bring animals back from extinction — it’s the wrong problem. Extinction has only one cause, and that cause is older, even, than the wheel. That cause is human greed.

As I said, this is a weird concept and a weird story, and yet, I really loved it. We learn about Damira through flashbacks and scenes of her present life, and the author presents mammoth thought processes in a fascinating way. At the same time, we follow poachers and hunters with varying motivations, learn about what their purposes are, and follow them to their fates.

Power was the ability to destroy without needing to. To do it not out of necessity, but as an act of pure excess. To do something to someone else simply because you could. And this was perhaps the greatest power of all: to kill something that no one else could kill.

To have a miracle resurrected — and then destroy it.

The writing is beautiful, with harsh truths about humanity’s future and the future of life on the planet. Through Damira, we’re shown reflections on the role of our pasts and how they shape our present. Damira’s thoughts flow across time, weaving together the disparate threads of her life to see the patterns that brought her to her new existence:

Whoever can remember is real. A being that remembers is alive, and authentic. I am here. That is enough.

The Tusks of Extinction is sad and awe-inspiring and thought-provoking. It’s definitely unlike anything else I’ve read. I’m looking forward to reading this author’s debut novel. The Mountain in the Sea, with my book group later this year.

4Jan2024

Book Review: Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Ghost Talkers
Author: Mary Robinette Kowal
Publisher: Tor Books Books
Publication date: August 16, 2016
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Historical fiction / fantasy
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Ginger Stuyvesant, an American heiress living in London during World War I, is engaged to Captain Benjamin Harford, an intelligence officer. Ginger is a medium for the Spirit Corps, a special Spiritualist force.

Each soldier heading for the front is conditioned to report to the mediums of the Spirit Corps when they die so the Corps can pass instant information about troop movements to military intelligence.

Ginger and her fellow mediums contribute a great deal to the war efforts, so long as they pass the information through appropriate channels. While Ben is away at the front, Ginger discovers the presence of a traitor. Without the presence of her fiance to validate her findings, the top brass thinks she’s just imagining things. Even worse, it is clear that the Spirit Corps is now being directly targeted by the German war effort. Left to her own devices, Ginger has to find out how the Germans are targeting the Spirit Corps and stop them. This is a difficult and dangerous task for a woman of that era, but this time both the spirit and the flesh are willing…

How might the Great War have been different if soldiers killed in battle could report back, in real time, on what they saw and experienced?

In Ghost Talkers, the British army employs a top-secret corps of mediums, known as the Spirit Corps, to receive the ghosts of newly dead soldiers and take their final reports. The ghosts appear to the spirit circles and can, in some cases, provide useful information — such as where the German soldiers were firing from, or what they saw immediately before dying. The information gathered is sent directly back to the front, and then the mediums take any final messages before the ghosts move on through the veil to the next plane.

Ginger is one of the lead mediums, working double shifts to take reports — an exhausting process that involves extending her soul beyond her physical body to interact with with ghosts on the spirit plane. This is dangerous for the mediums: Being on the spirit plane is freeing in many ways, and there’s a risk that the medium will lost contact with their body, perhaps never to return. The spirit circle grounds the medium to the physical realm, but the danger is constant.

These spiritual risks are amplified when evidence comes through the reports of the deceased that the Germans are aware of the Spirit Corps and have plans to sabotage them. Ginger finds herself pursuing leads that the top brass choose to ignore, and soon finds both her physical and spiritual self in grave peril.

Ghost Talkers has a fascinating premise, and I mostly enjoyed it. However a couple of small points kept me from fulling engaging. Chief among these is the lack of emotional connection. We’re thrust right into the action, and I did enjoy Ginger and Ben as characters, but because the plot is so in-the-moment, there’s no backstory. I don’t necessarily need every moment of their past to appreciate them in the present, but I would have liked to know more about how Ginger ended up in the war in the first place, what her family life back home was like, and most importantly, at least a little bit more about her romance with Ben.

My other issue is that the plot is rather convoluted, and there are so many soldiers and officers named and involved, some of whom only appear in the briefest of scenes, that it’s difficult to sort them all out. By the time the traitor is revealed, I’d lost track of some of the potential suspects, so the impact was a bit lost on me.

Ghost Talkers has been on my shelf for several years now — it was my last remaining book by Mary Robinette Kowal that I hadn’t read, and now I can say that I’ve read all of her novels! This author is one of my favorites, and I’m glad to have experienced Ghost Talkers, but in terms of total immersion and investment, it doesn’t quite reach the greatness of many of her other books.

Still, I appreciated the interesting premise and the spotlight on women’s roles during a time when their contributions were not valued. If you enjoy historical fiction with a ghostly twist, this is a good one to check out.

Washington Post review
The Guardian review

2Jan2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books of 2023

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Favorite Books of 2023.

There were so many great ones! It’s hard to narrow my list down to just ten…

Consider this just a sampling of the great books I read in 2023!

1.. Wolfsong by TJ Klune: But really, the entire Green Creek series is my top reading experience of the year. I loved all four books, but Wolfsong holds an especially strong place in my heart. After all, it’s all candy canes and pinecones and epic and awesome. (review)

… plus…

2. Hello Stranger by Katherine Center: The main character’s situation is like nothing I’ve ever read before. This book is fascinating and entertaining and lovely. (review)

3. Hard to pick just one T. Kingfisher book! I read three by this author in 2023, and these two are especially wonderful: (reviews here and here)

4. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree: The hype is real! This book has gotten so much buzz, and it’s all deserved. The cozy fantasy I never knew I needed. (review)

5. Whalefall by Daniel Kraus: This wins the prize for the weirdest thing I read all year… and yet, I still can’t get it out of my mind! (review)

6. A duo from a favorite series: Sleep No More (review) and The Innocent Sleep (review), books 17 and 18 in the excellent October Daye series by Seanan McGuire, were released one month apart in the fall, telling the same story from two different characters’ perspectives. Simply awesome.

7. Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer: Every once in a while, a Georgette Heyer novel is just right for the moment, and I absolutely loved reading Sprig Muslin this year. (review)

8. Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto: This book made me laugh and kept me guessing. Just pure fun. (review)

9. The Celebrants by Steven Rowley: I loved this story of friendship across the years — beautiful and emotional and truly resonant. (review)

10. The Gunnie Rose series by Charlaine Harris: I hadn’t thought this would interest me, but after reading the first book (An Easy Death) early in the year with my book group, I couldn’t stop until I’d read all five (and I’m hoping for more!).