February 2023 Wrap up

February was a wonderful month of reading for me. I truly enjoyed just about everything I read, and never realized how much I enjoy reading short stories! At least thought-provoking ones anyway.

I read all but one of the books I had planned for this month, plus a few more. That comes to a total of 16  books, 2 novellas, 8 short stories, and 1 DNF.

The only book I didn't get to was Transcendent by Craig Alanson. I decided not to continue with that trilogy, at least not at this time. I put my reason in my review of the first book in the series Ascendant. Basically, I just want to spend my time focusing on other books right now.

The DNF was The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow (The Crystal Calamity, #1) by Rachel Aaron. I tried, but that book just didn't click with me. It was disappointing because I've enjoyed everything else I've read by Rachel Aaron.

 

The unplanned books I ended up reading this month were:

 

The Reboot (The Birch Creek Ranch #5) by B.E. Baker  (See my review here.) 

The Sisters of Sea View (On Devonshire Shores, #1) by Julie Klassen (Review to come.)

I also bought the dramatized audio collection of the Philip Marlowe series by Raymond Chandler. I know they are shortened versions of the books, but they are just so much fun to listen to. I had already read the first two books in the series so I listened to books 3 through 6. (Review to come.)

 

 

The Cold Between (Central Corps, #1) by Elizabeth Bonesteel (Review to come.)

 

 

Finding Grace (Finding Home #0.5) by B.E. Baker

 

 

And last I picked up Crooked House by Agatha Christie

  

Murder on Madison Square (Gaslight Mystery #25) by Victoria Thompson

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: A couple of young teen girls are taken advantage of, but nothing happens on page.

 

Former policeman Frank Malloy is frustrated when a woman requests his private detective services to implicate her wealthy husband in adultery, the only legal grounds for divorce in New York state. Although Mrs. Bing seems genuinely distressed about her marriage and desperate to end it, she refuses to tell Frank the reason she absolutely must divorce her husband and admits she has no legal grounds. Frank explains he won't manufacture evidence for her and sends her on her way.

The following week, Frank and Sarah happen to be attending the first ever auto show in Madison Square Garden when they meet the woman's husband, Alfred Bing, who has invested in a company that produces one of the electric motorcars on display. A few days later, the newspapers report that millionaire Alvin Bing has been found dead, pinned beneath one of the wheels of his very own motorcar. But who was driving it? The obvious suspect is Mrs. Bing, but Frank and Sarah find that nothing is as it seems in their puzzling, dangerous search for truth.

 

I've had this book for a long time and for some reason kept overlooking it. I have to say, it was nice being back with Sarah, Frank, Gino, and Maeve. I enjoy these characters, even though the overarching plot involving their personal lives, moves at a snails pace. 

As I've said many times about this series, the mysteries are too easy to figure out, and this book was the same. It was glaringly obvious what was going on, right from the beginning. This, as usual, ended up making our investigators look rather stupid and naive. Maybe the naivete came from this sort of stuff not being talked about much during this time period. I'm not sure, but I feel like they are not in Victorian times, so should have been a bit more informed. After all, at this point they've seen a lot already. Surprisingly, even though it reads as light mystery, this series has touched on some pretty dark subject matter at times.

Despite this constant annoyance about this series, I still keep coming back because I like the characters, and I like the historic details that are included. This time, the history of automobiles, and specifically electric cars are featured here. Frank bought an automobile a couple of books ago, and they go to a car show at Madison Square Garden in this book, because Gino is a car enthusiast. The book showed how ladies preferred electric cars because they were easier to start up. Cars with internal combustion engines had to be cranked, and took a bit of muscle. It also showed why electric cars weren't practical for everyone (partly because of the need to charge them, and partly because of the high price) and why they eventually died out. It was also interesting that there were way more cars being made than people buying them because they were still too expensive for most people to afford them.

 

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Exiles (Aaron Falk #3) by Jane Harper

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Content:Strong language, Isolating and controlling behaviors, A girl is taken advantage of while drunk

 

At a busy festival site on a warm spring night, a baby lies alone in her pram, her mother vanishing into the crowds.

A year on, Kim Gillespie’s absence casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather deep in the heart of South Australian wine country to welcome a new addition to the family.

Joining the celebrations is federal investigator Aaron Falk. But as he soaks up life in the lush valley, he begins to suspect this tight-knit group may be more fractured than it seems.

Between Falk’s closest friend, a missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge.

This is the third and last book in the Aaron Falk series. I really enjoy his character and wouldn't have minded reading more books featuring him, but at the same time, I respect that the author kept this at just three books. As much as I enjoy the characters in some of the long series I've read, I do sometimes wish the series weren't seemingly endless. This trilogy ended in a really nice way, and I'm happy that Falk gets to be where he is in the end.

As for the mystery, I enjoyed the slow pace of the story. Slow paced mysteries don't always work for me, but for some reason they do with this author. There end up being two mysteries in this book, and for a good portion of the story I was wondering if they were somehow connected. I had a pretty good idea who was involved in one of the mysteries (the hit and run one), but not why. The disappearance kept me guessing a lot more. Although I did suspect the person that did it, that wasn't the only person I suspected. Once the mystery was unraveled and the culprit was revealed, I couldn't help but wonder if I know anyone just like these people, and I just don't see it. I really hope not. I wish I could say more on that subject, but it would be a major spoiler for me to elaborate.

Overall, I like this author a lot. I like the writing style, and that, although things can get a bit dark, it's never too dark. At least not for me. I think I'm going to try reading one of her standalones.

 

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for providing me with an ARC of this book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 2023 Reading Challenge and Book Club

So the February reading challenge and book club ended up overlapping this month. February's challenge theme is Short Month, Short Books, where the goal is to read as many short stories and novellas as you can. It just so happened that our book club also decided to read a bunch of short stories this month as well, so that made the challenge a bit easier.

I ended up really enjoying the nine short stories I read. One of them was actually a novella, but anyway, most of them were very good, and very thought provoking stories.

Here's the list, and links for the ones that are free to read on the web. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://americanliterature.com/author/o-henry/short-story/a-strange-story

 

A Strange Story by O. Henry

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Children
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

 

O. Henry's 'A Strange Story' is both a short story about the Smothers family and a long joke about the streetcar industry. It's a subtle poke at a struggling streetcar business at the time in Texas. Streetcars, or trolleys used for public transportation, were still relatively new, and O. Henry didn't think much about the myriad financial and mechanical problems the industry suffered. And, that's where ''A Strange Story'' was born. https://study.com/academy/lesson/a-strange-story-by-o-henry-summary-theme.html

 

This was indeed a strange story and also the shortest of the stories we read. A couple of my fellow book clubbers pointed out that it read like a campfire story. 

 

 

 

 

Snapshot by Brandon Sanderson 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Dead bodies are found of people that died at the hands of a serial killer, People in the snapshot are shot and killed.

If you could re-create a day, what dark secrets would you uncover?

From New York Times #1 bestselling author Brandon Sanderson comes a detective thriller in a police beat like no other. Anthony Davis and his partner Chaz are the only real people in a city of 20 million, sent there by court order to find out what happened in the real world 10 days ago so that hidden evidence can be brought to light and located in the real city today.

Within the re-created Snapshot of May 1st, Davis and Chaz are the ultimate authorities. Flashing their badges will get them past any obstruction and overrule any civil right of the dupes around them. But the crimes the detectives are sent to investigate seem like drudgery—until they stumble upon the grisly results of a mass killing that the precinct headquarters orders them not to investigate. That’s one order they have to refuse.

The hunt is on. And though the dupes in the replica city have no future once the Snapshot is turned off, that doesn’t mean that both Davis and Chaz will walk out of it alive tonight.

Read a second time for fantasy book club. I had forgotten more about this story than I thought, so there were still surprises.

Original review: Sanderson and I have a rocky relationship. At times I think his writing is incredible, but then there have been times I have found it terribly tedious and boring. I know I'm in the minority when it comes to that opinion, but that's just my personal experience. I loved what he did with WoT, I enjoyed Steelheart but didn't love it, I liked Elantris tremendously even though it had some flaws, and so far I love the Wax and Wayne books, but the original Mistborn trilogy was hit and miss with me and I almost didn't finish it. I think he really shines with this story.

Snapshot is a novella seemingly set in the same world as the Steelheart trilogy. While that trilogy was written for young adults, snapshot is more for adults. The only real tie here between the two is that the snapshot that is generated in this story is generated by a person with super powers.

If you could re-create a day, what dark secrets would you uncover?

Anthony Davis and his partner Chaz are sent into a snapshot, which is a recreation of a certain day that looks and seems very real, to investigate a crime that happened on that day. They can interact with this fake world and cause deviations so they are supposed to be careful to preserve things as they really happened. While in the snapshot they decide to investigate a case that they have not been asked to investigate. From there on things get more and more interesting, resulting in a story that is utterly brilliant. I loved the whole concept of the snapshot.

In the postscript that Sanderson wrote at the end of this novella, he seems to think that most readers will automatically come to certain conclusions in a certain order while reading this story. I have to say that I was not one of those people. I'm not sure what that says about me as a reader, or if it says anything about me at all, but there were some twists that I didn't see coming. Should I have seen the twists coming? I don't know, maybe. I usually find it pretty easy to solve the mysteries in detective stories, but as I was trying to figure this one out my mind actually went in a completely different direction. A completely wrong one, but to me, that just made the reading experience even better.

I'll leave it at that, because I don't want to spoil this read for anyone. If you like detective novels, if you like The Twlight Zone, if you like stories by Phillip K. Dick, then you might like this novella. I've heard that film rights have been optioned by MGM. Personally I think that's a good move on their part, because I think this would make a great movie. 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJDw23lHTYs

The Harlequin Tea Set (A Harley Quin Short Story) by Agatha Christie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Paranormal
Content: Clean

 

Waiting for his car to be fixed, Mr. Satterthwaite sits in a tea shop called the Harlequin cafe, thinking of his friend Harley Quin, whom he hasn't seen in many years. Then, in a burst of sunshine, the very same Mr. Quin walks through the door, along with his diligent dog, Hermes. Satterthwaite is telling him the very long history of the family he is off to visit, when their conversation is interrupted by the abrupt entrance of a member of that very same family, intent upon replacing her harlequin cups. Satterthwaite desperately asks Quin to accompany him on his trip, but the ever-enigmatic Quin simply leaves his friend with one word, "Daltonism." What does that word mean, and what is the significance of Quin turning up at the tea shop on that day?

 

The Harlequin Tea Set is one of the only stories I've read by Agatha Christie that isn't a Poirot story. It features Harley Quin, who is in a few of her books. I think if I had read the other Harley Quin books first, I may have appreciated this one more. While I thought this story was ok, it wasn't on par with most of the other things I've read by Christie. It took its time to get to the point, but it was still enjoyable to listen to, and had a surprising paranormal twist to it. I may revisit this one someday, if I get around to reading all the Harley Quin stories.

 

https://escapepod.org/2013/09/14/ep413-why-i-left-harrys-all-night-hamburgers/

Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers by Lawrence Watt-Evans 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Clean

 

The Hugo-winning short story about diners, bored teenagers, and parallel worlds.

 

I loved the message of appreciating where you are. The grass isn't always greener on the other side.

 

Tin Man (Galaxy's Edge, #0.5) by Jason Anspach

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Strong Language

 

The Heart of a Hero

In the wilds of a jungle planet, the Legion fights in brutal combat as Republic marines fly their SLICS from one tragedy to the next.

H292, a repurposed warbot, shows the heart of a hero as he wades into the battle not to destroy—but to save.

 

This is a great version of the tin man who gets a heart. 

 

 

 

 

http://www.lem.seed.pr.gov.br/arquivos/File/livrosliteraturaingles/birthmark.pdf

The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Classic
Genre: Sci-fi, horror
Content: Clean

 

A short story about a brilliant scientist who cannot tolerate the birthmark on his wife's lovely face and will go to any lengths to remove it. 

 

I liked the moral of the story but not the way it's written. Hawthorne is way too wordy, and it makes this a chore to read. This story brought to mind the way so many people are unhappy with themselves, when they are perfectly beautiful the way they are, and keep trying to 'improve' themselves through surgery and fillers to get the perfect look. Only to end up looking weird and unnatural. I also enjoyed the way it showed how our opinions of ourselves can be influenced by others.

 

 

 

 

Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

Leaf by Niggle is a short story about a painter who is working on a picture leaf by leaf. Niggle, the painter, is a kind hearted soul and goes out of his way to help his friends and neighbours but eventually finds that this prevents him from completing his masterpiece. He has a hard decision to make; when engrossed in his work, his neighbour asks him to fix his roof using his art supplies.

 
A wonderful little allegorical story about our time, how we spend it, and what it's all worth. It takes us through the culmination of one's life on Earth and experiences in Purgatory, leading to Heaven. The more I think about it, the more I discover.

 

 

 

 

https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/palmer_09_17/ 

In this issue of Clarkesworld Magazine, we read the story, The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-Fi
Content: Clean

 

Autonomous maintenance robots take on a much larger role in saving a spaceship from aliens than the ship's human crew could have ever suspected. 

 

The Secret Life of Bots is a cute story, and I loved the bots and their clever solution to the predicament they found themselves in.

 

https://ia601308.us.archive.org/12/items/AstoundingScienceFictionv43n6/Astounding%20v43n06%20%281949-08%29.pdf 

We read Letter to a Phoenix by Fredric Brown from his short story collection.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Classic
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Clean

 

A 180,000-year-old man writes a letter to humanity as a whole, explaining the lessons he has learned while observing the rise and fall of multiple civilizations.  

 

This is an interesting, thought provoking story. Although there is some truth in this cyclical view of history, and the way we build only to destroy and rebuild again, the way it's presented in the story is a concept I can't completely get behind.

 

 

January 2023 Book Club: Ascendant (Ascendant, #1) by Craig Alanson

  

 My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult, Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean

 

The Wizard's Council of Tarador was supposed to tell young Koren Bladewell that he is a wizard. They were supposed to tell everyone that he is not a jinx, that all the bad things that happen around him are because he can't control the power inside him, power he doesn't know about. The people of his village, even his parents, are afraid of him, afraid he is cursed. That he is a dangerous, evil jinx. The Wizard's Council didn't tell young Koren, because they know what is best for him. Even after their silent deception destroys his life.
Crown Princess Ariana Trehayme will become queen of Tarador on her sixteenth birthday, if her weak, indecisive mother the Regent hasn't allowed their ancient enemy to conquer Tarador before then. Ariana wants her royal army to strike at the enemy, but her mother knows what is best for her, and the realm.
Together, Ariana and Koren can save Tarador, if the adults, who know best, will get out of their way.

I Listened to the audio version of this and I found it to be a very engaging story.  It's a very simple fantasy that doesn't bring anything new to the genre, but I still enjoyed listening to it while I painted. I could sympathize with the main character, Koren, and I found him to be a very likable character, along with several others. There were a few parts that pulled on my heartstrings, and there were times when I got really mad at the adults in Koren's life for not trusting him with information I felt he should have had. Unfortunately, this leads to some things happening that could have been avoided. 

One of the book's weaknesses is that there could have been more explanation of how the magic system works, but this being a trilogy, I feel like there is plenty of time to get to that. Initially, I wanted to continue on with this series, especially after the way this book ends, however, after thinking about it for a while, I decided against continuing. At least for now. I think if I had kids that might enjoy this series, then maybe it would be more of a priority for me to read, so I could share it with them. It's certainly something I think an older middle grader or younger YA reader would enjoy, but since it's just me, I would rather dedicate my time to other books.

If anyone needs a laugh today...

 

The Reboot (The Birch Creek Ranch #5) by B.E. Baker

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Romance, Clean Romance, Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction
Content: Clean

 

Abby Archer's life has rarely been better. As a newlywed, she and Steve have things just as she wants them. But when a big surprise leaves Abby confused, can she trust Steve to do things the way she needs them handled?

Amanda Brooks' business had a rocky start, but she and Mandy are more energized than ever. Eddy's back too, and they're trying to navigate a new way forward. Work and love are both shaping up nicely when disaster strikes. Can the new presence in town wreck all their plans, or will Amanda square her shoulders and persevere?

Donna has finally accepted her feelings for Will, and she's enjoying her job too. But working far from home has its own share of difficulties, and eventually her current job will end. When the retreat is built, will Donna find that tiny Manila is big enough to fulfill all her dreams?

Return to Birch Creek to see how your favorite friends are navigating career, family life, and love with a little bit of laughter.

 

I enjoyed being back in Birch Creek with these characters and I thought there was some good character growth in this book, especially for Amanda Brooks. I liked the way her story has ended up playing out, bumps and all. I felt for her so much when she was going through her grieving process in this book. I've been there. I loved reading about how she came to realize certain things about herself and wanted to change those things.

I also enjoyed reading about Donna, her struggles, and how things are working out for her. I really wanted to see her ex husband get what he deserved. I loved how Will was such a sweetheart to her, even when Donna was struggling. She also had some great growth in this book as she was able to self-reflect and realize she wasn't seeing some things clearly.

It was fun to see Abby and Steve as newlyweds. I liked the playfulness in their relationship. I missed the day to day stuff about the ranch and the kids in this one, but the focus had to shift to other things at some point. I love the way these women have come to lean on each other through troubled times. And it's always fun to read when Abby goes into lawyer mode to help Donna.

There were some things I wasn't crazy about in this book and they involved Amanda Sadler, Abby's sister, and Abby herself.

First, I thought Amanda Sadler went way too far. I don't want to go into details because of spoilers, but I would have had a much harder time forgiving her than the characters in the book did. It seemed pretty cruel to me, but maybe that's just because of a recent experience of my own that I won't go into here, again because of spoilers.

As for Abby's sister, she is way too over the top for me. I don't particularly enjoy reading about people with loads of money who try to control everyone around them with it. I don't think she's supposed to be a likeable character at this point, but I thought the circus thing was so over the top and didn't fit the tone of the books. The one thing that made me like her a bit, was what she tells Abby about the secret she's keeping, and how she gets her to do something about it. She said everything to Abby that I was thinking the whole time.

Abby herself annoyed me when she kept some things to herself and acted in a completely emotional way instead of using her head. It was basically the trope in romances when people don't talk to each other and just assume. I wasn't completely sold on the way Abby reacted over this thing that happens and everything that happens afterwards, simply because it was something she didn't really want to begin with. It all also happened really fast, and I think I would have liked for things to have progressed at a slower pace.

In the end though, things worked out ok, and just like all the others in the series, I had a hard time putting this book down. So, while this wasn't one of my favorite books in the series, I still thoroughly enjoyed most of it and am looking forward to reading the next one.

Thanks to the author for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Shared from author Bridget E. Baker's (aka B. E. Baker) Facebook page...

I've read and loved many of Bridget's books! If you are interested in trying any of her books, this would be a great way to try them out. But please subscribe to her channel if you want to listen, so she can add even more books.

Bridget E. Baker Writes 

I have about nine free audiobooks up on YouTube. I kind of stalled out getting them up there a year ago, to be honest, because it takes a LOT of work and a LOT of effort, and I never made it to the 1000 subscribers I needed to get monetized. SO I was spending a TON of money to get them made, and then a ton of time and effort to get them listed... only to give them all away.

That's not a good business model. I kept meaning to take them down. But slowly, over the past year, I've gained a handful of extra subscribers... and now I need about 350 more to monetize. I'm considering putting ALL of them up there (I have about thirty, so like 21 more... and adding more all the time.) IF I can get monetized, I definitely will.

SO! If you like my stuff, and you want to see more audio over there, or if you just want to help me out, check out my book Finding Faith... and then subscribe to my channel. (The first three birthright books are there as well!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svzXkVrhRYo&t=1035s