Books
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Book Review: The Goodnight Agency by Tyler Tork
Tyler Tork is another author I have been blessed to meet through Narrativity. Just based on the amazing cover, I was excited to read The Goodnight Agency, and it did not disappoint. Ever since her parents went to prison, Ruby Park has bounced around among her aunts, looking for a place to call home. But Ruby is not interested in being the kind of girl her aunts expect her to be, and finally, she is sent to live with her Uncle Simon. Simon Goodnight tells people he is a financial advisor, but in reality, he helps his clients with whatever they need. That in and of itself is not strange. It…
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100 Word Book Review: A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
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100 Word Book Review: Index, a History of the – A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan
The first index was devised to let a busy ruler know what parts of a book he could skip. Later, indexes were used to provide snarky commentary (“Let no damned Tory index my history”). And throughout, just like with every new technology, people were afraid it would turn the youth into lazy, less serious citizens of the world. If any of this sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend Index, a History of the by Dennis Duncan. I will, however, suggest reading the book versus listening to the audiobook. Index entries do not always make for the most interesting listening.
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100 Word Book Review: The Lost City of the Monkey God- a true story by Douglas Preston
I have watched the Lost City of the Monkey God documentary, but I wanted to read the book. This is an account of an expedition to find a “lost” city in Honduras. Some of the controversy around the “discovery” is about exactly how lost the city was. (Slightly more lost than many, from what the evidence suggests.) If you are interested in archeological discovery, especially in the jungle, I highly recommend this book. It goes into more detail about the people involved, the controversy surrounding the expedition, and the aftermath – including health issues for people involved, than the documentary does.
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100 Word Book Review: The Man Who Loved Books Too Much – the True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett
I love books, am fascinated by rare books. I would likely never pay college textbook prices (or more) for any book again, now that I don’t have to buy college textbooks, but that doesn’t stop me from loving beautiful, old books. So The Man Who Loved Books Too Much seemed right up my alley. I loved the information about rare books, but the main story was simply about a con man, a credit card fraudster, who just happened to fixate on rare books. And in the end, I just didn’t find the book as interesting as I hoped I would.
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Book Review: The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
Back in February, I listened to and loved Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow (my review linked). The last book I finished this year is The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna, also in audiobook format. These books, along with others like Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone (which I loved, but haven’t written any reviews of), are part of a new trend in science fiction and fantasy where the main characters are non-western girls. Let me be clear that I am here for this trend. As a GenX girl who loved science fiction and fantasy books, I grew up mostly reading about the adventures of young, implied western, boys. So…
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Some Thoughts After Listening to Steven Brust’s Agyar
Agyar is my favorite vampire book, despite the fact that I don’t think the word “vampire” is used anywhere in the book. The audio version is great because Steven reads it himself. I loved listening to him tell me this story. I first read this book probably within two years of it first being published (back in the early 90s). I have read it at least two other times, but it had been close to two decades since those readings when I decided to listen to it. When I revisit a book, I notice new things, or I react differently to the same things. It is not always about the…
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100 Word Book Review: Unbelievable True* Stories from Ancient Greece by Anna Werner
I fell in love with Greek mythology in 4th grade. This book would not have been appropriate for me to read at 1o years old. But if you are over 18, have ever found yourself thinking “Are you fucking kidding me?” while reading Greek mythology, and still want to read more Greek mythology, then Unbelievable True* Stories from Ancient Greece by Anna Werner is the book for you. Anna’s research and deep understanding of the subject are obvious, but it is her humor that shines through as she expresses the thoughts many of us have had while reading these stories.
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100 Word Book Review: G.H.O.S.T. Teams Book 1- Magic by Bobby Brimmer
If you’re lucky enough to have met Bobby Brimmer, then you have a good idea what reading G.H.O.S.T. Teams Book 1 – Magic is like. It’s his personality on the page – an action romp with a wise-cracking hero. There are fight scenes and chase scenes and unsuccessful flirting scenes. There’s not a lot of deep introspection, though there’s enough character development to show the hero isn’t perfect and has plenty to learn. But the best part of the book was that it was FUN. This was an easy read, and I will definitely be reading more of the series.
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Narrativity 2022 – You Can’t Do That … Unless it Works
Yesterday I returned home from this year’s Narrativity convention (where we continued to require masks and proof of vaccination). Our theme this year was “You Can’t Do That . . . Unless it Works”. And that seemed to be the theme of the entire weekend, not just our panels. Let me start by saying that I am not capable of being actually critical of this convention. It was our third time meeting in person, and I have been at all of them. I LOVE the community that is Narrativity. I look forward to seeing them every year, and every year, I leave wanting all of them to live closer to…