This week was a bit more productive than last week. Still fighting the chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia. Widespread pain for * no effin,’ reason* sucks. Still, even when there’s not energy for physical activity, I am always able to read! Spent a lot of time nested with good books over the week. I did have a bit of a preen moment twice, when I received thanks from authors whose books I had reviewed. One was delighted that I got the message they were trying to get across, and said I was the first (they knew of) to have done so. If ever you doubt a reviewer can make a difference to an author, you do. If you enjoy books you read, craft a useful review. Let them know.

 

(Look! I have a shiny new button badge in my sidebar. Click it to visit the City Book Reviews –>)

 

Books read, reviewed and posted/scheduled:

*Nightmare of the Queen by Jacqueline Patricks 4?

*I Wish My Teacher Knew… by Kyle Schwartz 4?

*Writing Fight Scenes by Rayne Hall 4?

*God’s Red Son by Louis Warren 5?

*Destiny of the Queen by Jacqueline Patricks 4?

*Bees Make Honey, Butterflies Make Jam by John Offord 4?

*River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey 5?

 

Best Read of the Week:

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

“In the early 20th Century, the United States government concocted a plan to import hippopotamuses into the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This is true.

Other true things about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two.

This was a terrible plan.

Contained within this volume is an 1890s America that might have been: a bayou overrun by feral hippos and mercenary hippo wranglers from around the globe. It is the story of Winslow Houndstooth and his crew. It is the story of their fortunes. It is the story of his revenge.”

 

Next in line:

*The Phoenix Cycle by Bob Coppelly

Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory

Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Legends by Lydia Sherrer + ASAP

The Highwayman by RA Salvatore  £££

Lockdown by Laurie R King

*Stack Your Bones by Ruthie Frasier +

Lord of Pleasure by Erica Ridley.   £££

The Threat Level Remains Severe by Rowena McDonald.  £££

Asylum of Dr Caligari by James Morrow

Sun Born by Kathleen O’Neal and W Michael Gear

The Telomere Effect by Dr Elizabeth Blackburn

The Ice Queen by Rebecca Bauer Aug 5

Venetian Blood by Christine Volker + June 19

Confessions of an American Doctor by Max Kepler + June 27

Open Your Heart by Ruth Cherry + Jul 10

Barry’s Deal by Lawrence Schoen ++ June 19 (beta)

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

The second to last in this list is particularly exciting, as I am beta-reading Lawrence Schoen’s WIP novella Barry’s Deal!

 

Hardcover haul from Pegasus, and City Book Reviews this week:

(Yeah, I now have two Dragon Teeth copies. One will eventually become a giveaway)

 

 

A gift from my beloved Jonas.

 

And this ??? I received this delightfully amusing book from my sister.

 

 

As usual, snagged several cool egalleys. I discovered Edelweiss, similar to Netgalley. Cause that’s all I need- more books to review. The ones I am most excited about are:

 

Golden Age and Other Stories by Naomi Novik (yep, I got it!)

“Naomi Novik ended her acclaimed, beloved nine-volume Temeraire series last year with a stunning finale, League of Dragons. Fans missing their favorite series can now rejoice: Novik returns with an original Temeraire collection as unique as the world she has created, with each tale inspired by an accompanying piece of fan art.

The Temeraire novels provide a window into an alternate nineteenth century populated with Novik’s own richly human and unforgettably draconic characters as they adventure alongside well-known historical figures. That tradition continues here. Readers will delight at appearances by fan-favorite characters from the series and historical figures like the famed explorer Matteo Ricci. In “Planting Season,” Novik shows us an early glimpse of American dragon John Wampanoag at Boston Harbor. “Golden Age” finds a dragon who believes he remembers being called Celeste hatch from a shipwreck-tossed crate onto an island where he meets others of his kind. But other famous fictional characters are to be discovered here as well. Readers will certainly recognize a certain Miss Bennet (here Captain Bennet) and her suitor, Mr. Darcy, in “Dragons and Decorum.”

Filled with the inventive world-building, rich detail, sparkling wit, and deep emotion that readers have come to expect from Novik’s work, Golden Age and Other Stories is a treasure at home on any Temeraire-lover’s bookshelf.”

 

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

“With raucous humor and brilliantly orchestrated mayhem, Meddling Kids subverts teen detective archetypes like the Hardy Boys, the Famous Five, and Scooby-Doo, and delivers an exuberant and wickedly entertaining celebration of horror, love, friendship, and many-tentacled, interdimensional demon spawn.

SUMMER 1977. The Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in Oregon’s Zoinx River Valley) solved their final mystery and unmasked the elusive Sleepy Lake monster—another low-life fortune hunter trying to get his dirty hands on the legendary riches hidden in Deboën Mansion. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids.

1990. The former detectives have grown up and apart, each haunted by disturbing memories of their final night in the old haunted house. There are too many strange, half-remembered encounters and events that cannot be dismissed or explained away by a guy in a mask. And Andy, the once intrepid tomboy now wanted in two states, is tired of running from her demons. She needs answers. To find them she will need Kerri, the one-time kid genius and budding biologist, now drinking her ghosts away in New York with Tim, an excitable Weimaraner descended from the original canine member of the club. They will also have to get Nate, the horror nerd currently residing in an asylum in Arkham, Massachusetts. Luckily Nate has not lost contact with Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star who was once their team leader . . . which is remarkable, considering Peter has been dead for years.

The time has come to get the team back together, face their fears, and find out what actually happened all those years ago at Sleepy Lake. It’s their only chance to end the nightmares and, perhaps, save the world.

A nostalgic and subversive trip rife with sly nods to H. P. Lovecraft and pop culture, Edgar Cantero’s Meddling Kids is a strikingly original and dazzling reminder of the fun and adventure we can discover at the heart of our favorite stories, no matter how old we get.”

 

Now I’m stalking this book on my lists:

Tarnished City by Vic James

I loved Gilded Cage and am eager to read the next in series!

“MAGIC COMPELS. WE BLEED.

The captivating dystopian trilogy that began with Gilded Cage continues. In a modern Britain where magic users control wealth, politics—and you—an uprising has been crushed. In its aftermath, two families will determine the country’s fate. The ruthless Jardines make a play for ultimate power. And the Hadleys, once an ordinary family, must find the extraordinary strength to fight back.

Abi Hadley is a fugitive. Her brother, Luke, a prisoner. Both will discover that in the darkest places, the human spirit shines brightest. Meanwhile, amid his family’s intrigues, Silyen Jardine dreams of forgotten powers from an earlier age.

As blood runs in the streets of London, all three will discover whether love and courage can ever be stronger than tyranny.

How do you choose when you can’t save everyone?”