Reviews

Crocodile on the Sandbank is as much an enemies to lovers romance as it is a mystery, written - in my opinion - for domineering women to both laugh at and be pleased by themselves.

The War That Ended Peace is a very long book about the events that led up to World War 1, but that length doesn't keep it from being a compelling read that keeps the reader's interest.

The Automatic Detective is very much "a robot plays the role of a hard boiled detective". It is well done, except that so much time is spent on hitting all the points in the trope while also setting up the crazy city and Mack's personal situation, that very little time is spent on the characters he is supposed to rescue. While Mack seems to care about them more or less, the reader isn't invested at all.

Dead Beat is book seven of The Dresden Files, and it is definitely worth reading the previous six to get to this one.

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman is the second book in the series "The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club". It is quite long but stays exciting all the way through. The only thing that really bugged me was all the bickering.

The Undercover Economist does a good job of explaining basic economics in a way that is clear for those without much background but not boring for those who know more about it.

All You Need Is Kill can be divided into two parts. The first is an amazingly clever take on the time loop trope. The second begins with an info dump about one of the characters, followed by an info dump about the aliens, and just never recovers. I've heard the movie is good, so you should watch it instead.

Yes, another alien abduction romance. Choosing Theo is pretty good, despite all the tropes and the occasional element that makes no sense. Of course, the most important part is the romance, and that definitely works.

The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet is book 5 in the Adventures of Captain Alatriste. The story, like others in this series, is interesting, fun, and meandering, often making it easier to remember the witty quips than what actually happened, although the plot in this one was a bit more straightforward.

If you are doing a comprehensive survey of HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, then it is worth it to read Derleth's short story, "The Return of Hastur", mainly so you can appreciate that other authors did not take the same path. Otherwise, you can skip it and not be missing much.

The Ark Before Noah is about Irving Finkel and his exploration of the history of the ark story. It is a story of linguistic detective work, with some really interesting history and quite a bit of humor.

Doorways in the Sand is an occasionally goofy novel by someone who I usually think of as writing really serious science fiction. At first, I felt like the story was just a lighthearted romp, but then I started to wonder if there was something more. By the end of the book, peppered with references to Lewis Carroll and fitting together surprisingly well, I wondered if I might need to read it again to really understand it.

My Lord and Spymaster is a compelling read with great characters who have real chemistry, as well as a solid reason for all the conflict. While it isn't anything that is going to redefine historical romance, it absolutely delivers on all the promises that it makes.

Accelerando is an incredibly well-written and fascinating book about the breakneck pace of technological change by an author who really knows what he is talking about. However, don't expect an easy ride. Not only is there a lot of complicated scheming in the story, but just keeping up with the changes in technology and culture is work - even with the occasional summaries from the narrator.

Dark Horse is trying to balance right on the line between romance novel and science fiction novel. However, to do romance right, you need to commit a lot of pages to developing the relationship, and there is just too much science fiction plot to accomplish that.

Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station is another delightful and wildly unrealistic romp full of humor and empathy.

The Leper of Saint Giles is the fifth book in the series about Brother Cadfael. It had a bit more complexity to the plot than in some of the earlier books, but I felt like the situation with the young woman was similar enough to that in Saint Peter's Fair, the previous book in the series, that it was like deja vu.

Skunk Works covers Ben Rich's years working at Lockheed's Skunk Works, starting with the development of the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft, then going back to talk about earlier projects. Interspersed with Rich's memories are the memories of others involved in the projects. This is all great. However, the entire end of the book, plus the epilogue, is dedicated to "What a Skunk Works-like development team can do for you!" and "Why you need Skunk Works!". There was no new information and, while Ben Rich's memories were timeless, his opinions and the opinions of others on what is important in military R&D felt dated 30 years after the book was written.

Restless Sea is the fifth book in a series about Galen's life. While it is about two monks, one of whom people think is a saint, it is more about friendship and dealing with adversity. This installment in the series offers some exciting twists, while the elements that make this series great are still strong.

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook is the third book of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Either you already love the series and have read and listened to this book several times, or you can't believe that something that sounds so stupid is so popular. It is popular for a good reason.

Pyres is like waking up from a dark daydream of killing off heartless politicians to find that the darkness has infected your life. This short novel is an incredibly compelling read that is alternately satisfying and frustrating in just the right way. I feel like it also has enough subtext to let you make larger statements about society in ways that I haven't found in most of my recent reads.

The Big Sleep is a classic of the hard-boiled detective genre, which I really enjoy. I was surprised, though, that it was considered so amazing, because it has some noticeable flaws.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion looks from the outside like it is going to be for marketing professionals, and maybe it is used that way. However, the author focuses on how certain psychological principles work and how to avoid being manipulated by them when they are used by business people. Unfortunately, it doesn't cover how to avoid guilt trips from your relatives. Also, it was originally published in 1984, and while it does a good job of explaining everything and is undoubtedly useful, you'll hear phrases like "Red Chinese" and "Indians" to mean Native Americans. The tone is definitely more for the 1990s than the current dumpster fire that we live in.

I am always shocked when I read westerns, because they are never the sexist, racist novels that I expect. Shane, once again, blew my expectations out of the water (in a good way), even with my dislike of young narrators.

The Blacktongue Thief is a fantasy novel that feels at times like it is as much about the author's cleverness, humor, and ability to sing as it is about the characters. However, overall it is clever, funny, and well written enough that the author's presence doesn't ruin the story.

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen is a fantastic novel that does nearly everything right when it comes to romance (M/M romance, so be aware).

What to Listen for in Music helps explain how to enjoy both the beauty and the intelligence behind classical music by teaching you what you should be listening for. It seems to go from describing what a whole note means to explaining complicated musical forms in a short time, so it will be either too remedial or too advanced in parts. Nonetheless, the book teaches you what it says it will.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry turns the trope of small town romance on its head, with characters who aren't what they appear from the outside and situations that are more complicated than they seem. Frankly, that sounds depressing, but this story is as much about healing and laughter as it is about romance, plus it makes editing seem so very sexy.

The Fangs of Freelance, the fourth book in the Fred the Vampire Accountant series, deals with the repercussions of what happened in previous books. It continues to focus on the value of friendship and kindness, but delves a bit deeper into the feelings of the characters and the changes in their lives. Fred is maturing as a person, which makes the book that much more enjoyable to read.

Wolves, the first book of a series about Loki from Norse mythology and a female vet student from Chicago, sets up a series of personal and cosmic disasters for them. However, the second half of the book, while keeping the fast pace, didn't keep my attention. What went wrong?

Conspirata depicts the events leading up to the fall of the Roman Republic from the point of view of Tiro, Cicero's slave and scribe. The depiction is apparently fairly accurate and definitely very compelling. However, don't look for any of the characters, except perhaps Tiro, to be beacons of virtue, as they spend pretty much the whole book scheming.

Red Land, Black Land explains what made up the lives of the people who lived in ancient Egypt and what egyptologists know and don't know about Egyptian history. It tries to focus on the lives of regular people and not just the rulers, when possible. It does this well and with an accessible and quirky tone that makes the book fun.

The actual "last report" on the miracles at Little No Horse is a letter from Father Damien to the Pope. The book is a mixture of these letters and events from more than 80 years of Father Damien's life, mostly on a Native American reservation in North Dakota. The book isn't a fast read and might lack a single, driving plot, but the characters are vibrant and their lives feel real enough for the reader to care about them.

Tales from the Gas Station: Volume Two continues Jack's stories about what is happening in his life, which mainly takes place in the gas station. If presented in another way, Jack's dark but hilariously funny story of physical pain, fear, and possible mental breakdown could be an incredibly stressful read, but if you have a dark sense of humor, it is just right.

Komarr continues the story of Miles Vorkosigan, taking us further into his second career. As with previous books, the story focuses on Miles's sharp mind and romantic interests, with humor and call backs to much that has come before. It is yet another fantastic contribution to the series.

Guards! Guards! is the 8th book in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett and continues with elements that stood out in earlier books: humor, intelligence, some social commentary, and more romance than I would have expected. However, I was surprised to see some dark moments in this book. Really well done!

The most overused plot in science fiction romance is a woman who was abducted by aliens is rescued by an alien warlord. She has something that he needs, be it a special power or maybe just the ability to have babies. Thanemonger is all of that (although her special power is a cool one), but the addition of the family dynamic - plus good writing - makes this book worth reading.

The Nutmeg of Consolation is the 14th book of the series and continues much the same from the previous 13 books, which means excellent characters, a very distinct sense of place whether on land or sea, and a plot that is less focused on a single storyline for the book than on telling what happens next in the context of the series.

Personal History by Katharine Graham is not only a comprehensive view of her life, but also a surprisingly readable and quick paced story of what it was like to be a powerful woman in business during a time when women didn't have those roles and an interesting window into the lives of some very important political figures.

The Final Empire is one of those high fantasy novels that looks right away like its high page-count is justified by the massive story it is trying to tell, although there were moments when I wondered if it was worth it.

The House Witch by Delemhach is a rambling, episodic but still completely enjoyable story that is more about themes - like found family and the value of a safe home - than about plot.

Breakpoint by Richard A. Clarke is an exciting, quick read and certainly compelling enough to keep you going through to the end, although it isn't without flaws.