This guest review is from Danielle Fritz. Danielle is a former librarian who has a special affection for children’s lit and books about the funeral industry. She first cut her criticism teeth as a fanfic writer. A resident of the upper midwest, she’s learned to love beer and tater tot casserole and tolerate long winters. Most nights will find her cuddled up with her pups and wearing out her wrists with yet another crochet project. … Continue reading Peaches and Honey: These Immortal Truths by R. Raeta →
I mentioned in the recent Whatcha Reading post that I think it was flchen1 (Hi! Thank you!!) who posted about Blood of a Gladiator in the comments a week or so ago, but I inhaled this book. I wrote in the post: “Ashley Gardner aka Jennifer Ashley writes great mysteries with very slow connections and growing emotional depth between the characters, and this book was excellent. It got me through some insomnia (perimenopause can fuck … Continue reading Blood of a Gladiator by Ashley Gardner →
Please check the content warnings before continuing as several of them are unavoidable when discussing the setup! This manga is originally based on a series of Japanese light novels. They’ve been translated to English and even just reading the sample, it seems that the beginning of the manga follows the text closely. Maomao was kidnapped from her job as an herbalist/apothecary in a red light district and is now forced to work as a maid … Continue reading The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 1 by Natsu Hyuuga and Nekokurage →
I should know better by now than to start a Courtney Milan novel in the evening before I have to work in the morning. I renew my membership of the Bad Decisions Book Club every single time. The Devil Comes Courting was no exception to this rule. Grayson Hunter wants to build a telegraph from Shanghai to the USA, but to do this he will need someone to invent a Chinese telegraphic code. He comes … Continue reading The Devil Comes Courting by Courtney Milan →
I have so many feelings about this book, which hit on more than one of my nerdy passions, most notably the fate of the Lost Franklin Expedition. I expected historical fiction and got a mystery that kept me reading late into the night. Lady Franklin is the wife of Captain Sir John Franklin, an Arctic explorer who disappeared along with his crew. After many attempts have been made by men to find him have failed, … Continue reading The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister →
Content warning: References to child abduction, the sexual abuse of children, and sexual exploitation generally. It is all referred to in fairly vague terms and is not depicted on the page, but there is a lot of upsetting back story. There is also a subplot that hinges on infidelity. The Road to Ironbark is two stories in one. At the tail end of the Gold Rush, Aurora Scott, a respectable widow with a less than … Continue reading The Road to Ironbark by Kaye Dobbie →
When I really love an author, I often try to pace out diving into their back list as much as my own self-control will allow, leaving me with some guaranteed, go-to winners for when I really need them. This strategy definitely paid off with Jeannie Lin’s The Dragon and The Pearl, the second book in her China-set Tang Dynasty series. Two deliciously complex characters locked in a steamy battle of wills in a well-rendered non-European … Continue reading The Dragon and the Pearl by Jeannie Lin →
I’ve been in a reading rut lately. It’s the worst feeling in the world, and my solution has been to try novellas instead. They’re less intimidating than full-length books: it’s an hour of my time instead of four, I don’t feel like I’ve wasted time if I hate the book, I don’t experience guilt if I DNF, etc. The list goes on and on. When Jeannie Lin released an anthology set in her 19th century … Continue reading Tales from the Gunpowder Chronicles by Jeannie Lin →
This guest review comes to us from Heather Morris! Heather Morris is a cyborg librarian living in North Carolina. She’s a Cool Aunt, a True Crime junkie, an ARMY, and an anxiety-riddled Gemini. You can find her on Twitter @NotThatHeatherM. … I’ve recently fallen deep down the rabbit hole of K-dramas available on Netflix. I enjoy them for many of the same reasons I love romance novels. For one thing, you know from the beginning, … Continue reading Guest Review: Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung →
Gods of Jade and Shadow is an exquisite wonder of a novel. Set in 1920s Mexico, Casiopea Tun accidentally frees the Mayan god of death from his prison when she unlocks a mysterious box in her grandfather’s room. Hun-Kamé’s power is limited until he recovers his missing jade necklace and missing body parts: his left eye, ear, and index finger. Unfortunately for Casiopea, a shard entered her body when she freed Hun-Kamé, tying them inseparably. … Continue reading Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia →
Sherry Thomas is the rare writer that I’ll follow to any genre. I inhaled her gorgeous European historicals as a teen and reread them at least thrice a year (The Luckiest Lady in London remains in my list of Top 10 Favorite Romances of All Time). When she wrote YA fantasy in the Elemental Trilogy, I mourned the loss of her historicals but nonetheless gobbled up those new books as well. When she moved on … Continue reading The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas →
