It’s been a mixed bag recently. I found a new series I’m enjoying, but I DNF’d a few things I thought would be right up my alley. So here’s my disclaimer: It’s entirely possible some of the media I did not finish is something I might enjoy at some other time or in a different format.
I should probably also mention that nearly all this is from the library, which means there’s a little less indie stuff than I’d like. But libraries are amazing. I can check out both ebooks and audiobooks from library systems in two different counties for free! Fund your libraries!
Holy cow, this turned out to be really long, and I cut some things. I may need to do these roundups more often than every five months.
Do you have any suggestions? What have I missed?
Written
The Enola Homes Series by Nancy Springer. Okay, I’m a bit of a sucker for Sherlock Holmes adjacent stories, and these fit the bill. The story is told from the POV of Sherlock Holmes’s much younger sister. In the first book, she’s 14 and her mother has disappeared. She ages through the series — I think she’s 15 or 16 in book four. Anyhow, the protagonist is engaging, and the stories kept my interest. Even the parts where I would have preferred different choices (eg, a mesmerist plays heavily in one of the books), the choices I didn’t like are almost certainly what Conan Doyle would have decided.
The audiobooks are also really well done — I’m listening to the ones available to me and reading the others. Highly recommended. (I can see why Netflix chose these.)
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd. Here we hit the first book I might have liked at a different time or under different circumstances. I wanted to like this book. The premise intrigued me. But I knew going in that it was SF and then there was nothing SF for the first 40% of the book. So when we finally got to that point, I was frustrated because we still hadn’t learned anything I hadn’t known before I started. Plus, I didn’t actually like the main character and there were about ten other characters I also didn’t care about.
I don’t know. It’s possible I was just in a bad mood for three weeks. So many other people have raved about this book, I may have just missed something. DNF
Ogres by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Second person narrative isn’t always my thing, but this was short enough that it didn’t get in the way. In the story, the headman’s son commits an act of violence against the ruling Ogres, causing his family to be slaughtered and leading to rebellion. Somewhere along the way it shifts from fantasy to science fiction and there is A Point being made about societies, and… meh. I don’t think I was the intended audience for this.
The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole. This is a fun romance that slides into a SF thriller. If you like any of those genres, you’ll probably like it.
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor. I finished this and then immediately made my friends read it because I wanted their take on the ending. Anyhow, the writing was great, the story was interesting, but it really felt like a prequel. Plus, I think I know what happened at the end, but I’m not entirely sure. Read it yourself and see what you think.
Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carriger. Steampunk, vampires, werewolves, and Victorian (uh, I think — I’m a little shaky on history) society. These are well-written and fun to read. Basically, if you’re the type of person willing to read a book that includes vampires and werewolves, you will likely enjoy this.
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo. Old Hollywood with bargains made in blood and ancient magic, from the point of view of a Chinese American girl who wants to be in movies. This book was fascinating.
Honor Bound by C.J. Archer. I read this after I listened to The Medium (see below; spoiler: it’s terrible) Why? Because I’m a glutton for punishment? But my library has this entire series, so I thought maybe The Medium was an aberration. Meh. I finished this, but it wasn’t very good. (But someone is requesting that the library buy this series, so… Maybe I’m just not the right audience.)
“A” is for Alibi by Sue Grafton. Okay, I read this when it came out (which tells you my age). I think I got up to J or K before I tapped out of the series, mostly because I forgot about it. Anyhow, I thought I’d re-read the whole series. But… somehow I didn’t pick up on how much of an alcoholic Kinsey is back when I read this the first time. I don’t know. Somehow this didn’t hold up for me, so that was the end of my series re-read.
Audio
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. This is one of the ones that I might have liked in a different frame of mind. The writing is great, but the story wanders all over the place and I was so anxious about one of the threads (involving a bomb in a public library with children in the building), I couldn’t enjoy any part of it. So… Yeah. DNF
Final Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano. This is the second in the series and I hadn’t read the first. I wasn’t confused, but I also didn’t have the attachment to the characters that I needed to get through this. And then it ran into one of my particular sore spots — the protagonist gets irrationally jealous of her boy toy during a booty call and I noped out. DNF
Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries by Donna Leon (There’s at least 30 in this series — I only listened to the most recent two.) This series is a love letter to Venice. And that’s enough to keep me listening. The structure is a bit of a mess if you’re expecting a standard mystery novel — in one book it isn’t clear there’s even a crime until about the 60% mark, and then it ends in the middle of the climax. But it’s still worth listening to these just to get the feel of Venice.
Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes Series by Laurie R. King. I warned you I liked Sherlock Holmes adjacent stories, right? In this one, Sherlock Holmes is in his 50s and semi-retired when he meets the 15-year-old protagonist, and they form an unlikely bond due to their shared love of intellectual pursuits . The audiobook I listened to combined the first few books during which she ages up enough to go to Oxford to study, and for the most part it was really interesting.
Then I looked at the later books and saw they ended up in a romantic relationship and… No. Just no. But the first few books were good.
Book of Night by Holly Black. “Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn’t pick, a book she couldn’t steal, or a bad decision she wouldn’t make.” If I could write a tagline like that, I’d be rich. Anyhow, this was really great until the very end. I hated the ending. It felt like it added an unnecessary cliffhanger (a la Leigh Bardugo) which really ruined the part of the book I liked.
Will I read more in the series? I don’t know. Probably not, given that ending.
Along Came a Spider by James Patterson. Look, the guy has a bazillion books out there, and some of them he’s even written, so surely there must be something there, right? Maybe there is, but not in this book. DNF
Deadly Cross by James Patterson. This was try number two. This one is more recent. I finished it, but the plot didn’t make a lot of sense, and the writing was pretty ham-handed. But if you like James Patterson novels, that’s great. More power to you. There’s a million of them.
Below Stairs Mystery Series by Jennifer Ashley. Mysteries in Victorian (?) England from the point of view of a cook who keeps getting dragged into the middle of things. Entertaining and the audio is really well done.
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto. This is another one that surprised me. This is… a romcom? body disposal heist? Parts of this were hilarious. Any time the protagonist’s Chinese-Indonesian relatives were in the scene, it was great. But every time her love interest appeared, the book just ground to a halt. The deciding factor for me was the main plot, in which they’re trying to hide the body of a guy the protagonist sort of accidentally killed, which I couldn’t really get into.
The narrator does an amazing job, but I may try this book again in ebook form so I can skim over spots I needed to get past. I don’t know. Again, so many people love this book, I feel like I might have just tried it at the wrong time. DNF
The Medium by C.J. Archer. I loved the premise — a medium in Victorian (?) London who falls in love with a ghost and they have to find and vanquish a demon that is killing people. That’s absolutely my jam. In reality, this is like a movie from the 1980s where stalking and abuse are mistaken for romance. The “hero” isn’t a ghost as much as a walking collection of red flags. The couple have jealous fights after knowing each other for two days.
By the second time the teenage heroine gives a speech about how she assumes he doesn’t want to be with her because he’ll have to watch her grow old and ugly while he doesn’t change, I laughed at the thought these two would last more than a few weeks. I would have thrown it across the room, but it was on my phone and I didn’t want to break it. I finished this, but I really don’t recommend it.
The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton. This romance has witches and pirates (of a sort) in Victorian (?) England and draws heavily on Jane Austen. It’s light and whimsical and I enjoyed it.
Watching
The Lake (This got review bombed on Amazon, probably because it has the audacity to have queer characters without killing or apologizing for them.) Justin hopes a summer at the lake will bring him closer to the daughter he gave up for adoption. Then they team up to take back the family cottage from his step-sister. Every character in this show has a well-defined goal and it works well. I enjoyed the entire first season.
Night Sky I never heard anything about this SF show until it was already cancelled… Great job, Amazon! Anyhow, an older couple (Sissy Spacek & J.K. Simmons) have a secret portal buried under their shed that takes them to other worlds. Some of the subplots work better than others, but the acting and writing are superb.
Elementary Uh, I own this, and the pilot is possibly the best pilot I’ve ever seen. There are a couple later seasons that don’t quite hold up, but the first three seasons especially are amazing. This is a comfort watch for me.
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