These are some of the better fantasies I read this year, most of them falling into the urban/supernatural category, but with a couple historical fantasies thrown in (from when I couldn’t find a historical mystery I wanted to read).

Supernatural and Urban Fantasy

Paul Cornell : Lychford
These are two utterly delightful urban fantasy novellas. The three main characters are women, one of whom, Judith, is elderly. All are strong characters—and highly amusing.

“You said he was a being of tremendous power and evil, but I’ve looked him up. He’s got a wife and family. He’s on LinkedIn.”

The telemarketers who called her up now seemed either desperate or resigned to the point of a mindless drone, until Judith, who had time on her hands and ice in her heart, engaged them in dark conversations that always got her removed from their lists.

Witches of Lychford (2015) Paul Cornell  10/10
The Lost Child of Lychford (2016) Paul Cornell  9/10

Shadow Police
Paul Cornell’s other series is very different from his Lychford series; I can see that it may well not be to everyone’s taste. I, however, really like it.

This is the second book in his Shadow Police series, and although you could read it on its own, I think you’d be better served going back and reading London Falling first, because a LOT happens in that first book.
The Severed Streets (2014) Paul Cornell  9/10

Charles de Lint : Newford
Charles de Lint is one of my favorite authors.

He writes urban fantasy—magic/fae exist, but they’re not the super-sexy, uber powerful creatures of supernatural fantasy. The magic in his books is that of folklore and myth—the Green Man, the Raven. It is the magic that exists just out of the corner of your eye.

Charles de Lint also writes some of the strongest female characters of any fantasy writer today. And I read a LOT of fantasy with female characters. His women are faliable creatures with whom you’d love to have coffee or go to a show with.

But these are not children’s stories any more than the original Grimm’s tales were stories for modern children. There are often monsters in his stories, but they tend to be human.

How can a smile, a laugh, a good deed, stand up against the weight of such a history?”

“I… I guess it can’t,” Jilly said. “But you still have to try.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s all you can do. If you don’t try to stand up against the darkness, it swallows you up.”

And I adore the Crow Girls.

 “And now I feel like I’m forgetting what it’s like to be happy,” I said, finishing up. “It’s like that stupid ghost boy stole all my happiness away, and now, ever since I talked to him, all I meet are unhappy people with very good reasons to be unhappy, and that makes me wonder, how could I ever have been happy? And what is being happy, anyway?”

Zia gave a glum nod. “I think it might be catching, because now I’m feeling the same way.”

“You see? That’s just what I mean. Why is it so easy to spread sadness and so hard to spread happiness?”

All of these books are short story anthologies—you don’t need to read them in any order, because in addition to being one of the best writers of strong female characters, he is also the best short story writer of any I can think of.

I just wish his Dreams Underfoot would come out as an ebook so I could easily reread it.
Muse and Reverie (2009) Charles de Lint : 10/10
Tapping the Dream Tree (2002) Charles de Lint : 10/10
Newford Stories: Crow Girls (2015) Charles de Lint : 9/10

Daniel José Older : Bone Street Rumba
There are not enough squees in the world for how I feel about Daniel José Older.

The Bone Street Rumba books are not YA books, but they have an utterly marvelous teen character, Kia.

A textbook lies open on the counter in front of me; I don’t even remember taking it out. It’s trig, some shit I already know how to do, and can’t be bothered answering a bunch of mindless questions about. I know this is a terrible reason to be getting Cs, but the truth is, I’m bored out my mind almost every day in school.

I also don’t have enough squees for how much I love Kia.

I mute the TV— you have to stand up and turn the remote at some hypotenuse-ass angle while pressing the button eighteen million times to get it to work…

Midnight Taxi Tango is the second book in this series; you should definitely read the first book before this one, because it’s just as awesome. But if you’re not sure if this is for you, check out his short story collection, Salsa Nocturna. It’s also marvelous, and will give you an idea of whether you’ll like his stories or not.

Also, he is the reader on his audiobooks, which initially concerned me, but he is quite good. (Although I’ll admit that although I like the idea of his daughter reading the raps Kia listens to, I’m afraid she’s not quite strong enough to do them justice.)
Midnight Taxi Tango (2016) Daniel José Older : 9/10

YA Standalone
This is a standalone set in a similar (the same?) world as the Bone Street Rumba series, but is not a part of that series, and doesn’t have boinking and quite as much language as that series.

But he understands teens—and women—very well.

(T)he words crept in, made a home in Sierra’s mind no matter how much she fought them off. Her wild, nappy hair. She ran her hands through her fro. She loved it the way it was, free and undaunted. She imagined it as a force field, deflecting all Rosa’s stupid comments.

Further down Gates Ave, a couple of guys were throwing dice in front of the Coltrane Projects. “Why you frownin’, girl?” one of them called out as Sierra walked past. “Smile for us!”

Sierra knew the guy. It was Little Ricky; they’d played together when they were small. He’d been one of those boys that all the girls were crazy about, with big dreamy eyes and a gentle way about him. A few years ago, Sierra would have been giddy with excitement to have his attention. Now he was just another stoopgoon harassing every passing skirt.

“I ain’t in the mood, jackass,” Sierra muttered, hugging herself. She was still shaky from the horrible night and she knew any sign of weakness would encourage them.

The guys let out a chorus of ohs and pounded one another. “I’m just saying, Sarcastula,” Ricky called after her. “C’mon back when you in the mood …”

This is such an amazing book, I really cannot encourage you enough to read it.
Shadowshaper (2015) Daniel José Older : 9.5/10

Mercy Thompson
I’m currently re-reading this series for the second time this year, which probably tells you how I feel about it.

Mercy is a half Native American WV mechanic who can change into a coyote, but aside from that doesn’t have much in the way of super powers, although she does have a propensity for getting herself into trouble.

This book continues the issues with the Fae and the rest of the US, and takes us for the first time Underhill.

This is the 9^th book in this series (there are currently four books and a novella in the Alpha & Omega series) AND graphic novels, so if you want to start at the beginning you have your work cut out for you, but I do love this series, so I think it’s well-worth your time to do so. Additionally, there are generally no cliffhanger endings, so you can read a book and then stop with no ill effects.
Fire Touched (2016) Patricia Briggs : 8/10

Faith Hunter : Jane Yellowrock
I am a huge fan of the Jane Yellowrock series—in fact I’ve been slowly working through the audio versions (I listen to audio books when I’m doing repetitive tasks or exercising, but it has to be something I’ve read before or else I get nothing done).

Jane Yellowrock is a skinwalker and a vampire hunter. She is also currently the enforcer for the head of the New Orleans vampires.

Shadow Rites is book ten of the series, and although you could start here, you probably want to go back to the beginning, because Jane does a lot of growing and learning through this series.

And there is Beast.

Beast perked up at the description of the food. Gator. Human killed gator? Human man is good hunter! Hungry for gator. And the picture she sent me was a whole gator, snout, teeth, feet, claws, tail, skin, and all, crusty with batter. I chuckled and sent her a more likely mental picture. Inside she huffed with disappointment.

You can, however, pick up the short story collection, Blood in Her Veins, if you’d like an idea of Faith Hunter’s writing and Jane’s world. The Jane books do not have cliffhangers, so you can read one and come back to the series.
Shadow Rites (2016) Faith Hunter : 8/10
Blood in Her Veins (2016) Faith Hunter : 8/10

Soulwood
Soulwood is a new series that parallels the Jane Yellowrock books.

Nell Ingram appears in a Jane Yellowrock short story, and I was quite pleased to discover that these is also a good series. Some of the characters from the Jane stories appear here—one being Rick LeFleur, who I don’t much care for. But at least he isn’t a love interest for Nell.

One thing I especially liked about this series is that although Nell left the religious cult in which she was raised, and the cult is seen as very negative in the short story, Nell’s relationship with her family is far more complicated than “escaping a cult” would make it sound. I may not be religious, but I appreciate the effort to make Nell’s family and religious faith complex.

One thing I did not like is that the second book ended on a cliff-hanger of sorts. I despise cliff-hangers. Let me be clear, I like story arcs that develop over the course of several books. I love bits that crop up again several books later. But I hate left in the dark as to what has happened when the narrator knows damned well what has happened. So the second book was dinged for the ending.
Blood of the Earth (2016) Faith Hunter  : 8/10
Curse on the Land (2016) Faith Hunter  : 8/10

SPI Files
This is an utterly delightful series. Mac is a seer for the SPI—the group in charge of policing the supernatural. Her only talent is that she is a seer, which puts her at a disadvantage when going up against supernatural monsters, which is one of the things I like about this series.

Mac knows her limitations. Which is something I very much appreciate.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Ian drew his gun, which was loaded with silver-infused hollow points. “Stay here,” he told me.

“I can do that.” Not only could I do that, I was glad to do that.

We’ve also listened to the first two books of this series, and they were quite enjoyable.
The Brimstone Deception (2016) Lisa Shearin : 9/10

Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls (1994) Jane Lindskold : 9/10
This is a single book story that is part fantasy, part SF, but only that there is advanced technology (a technology that is in some cases indistinguishable from magic). I read this years ago and was pleased to enjoy it just as much coming back to it the second time.

The Dark Side of The Road (2015) Simon R. Green : 8/10
This is a Simon R. Green story that is—best I can tell—not part of a series, which is unusual for him. Nope. Just checked, it’s a new series, but it’s certainly written as a stand-alone.

I tend to either love or hate Simon Green’s series. I adore the Nightside series, but didn’t care for his Secret histories. This book fell into the Like Very Much category.

My reflection met my gaze with a cold, mistrustful stare. A very familiar face because it hadn’t changed in so very long. Not the one I would have chosen; but good enough. I was tall, slim, dark-haired and handsome enough if you weren’t too choosy. A long rangy figure who appeared to be in his mid twenties. Dressed well, but anonymously. The kind of stuff you can buy anywhere, so you can fit in anywhere. An easy smile, a casual look, and dark eyes that gave away absolutely nothing.

Historical Fantasy

The Sarantine Mosaic
Guy Gavriel Kay is an author I absolutely love, but whom I have to be careful reading for two reasons. First, his books are complex and absorbing—not something I can pick up and put down, or read in a couple hours. Second, his writing and story-telling are phenomal, and I usually have trouble finding something to read after I finish one of his books, because everything else pales in comparison.

This series is set in alternate Byzantium, and the main character is a mosaicist, gone to the capital to decorate the rebuilt sanctuary.

To say of a man that he was sailing to Sarantium was to say that his life was on the cusp of change: poised for emergent greatness, brilliance, fortune— or else at the very precipice of a final and absolute fall as he met something too vast for his capacity.

Although there are touches of magic, this isn’t a fantasy in the traditional sense. It is instead a past the was never quite ours, and a glimpse into a great empire at its peak.

If this was the world as the god— or gods— had made it, then mortal man, this mortal man, could acknowledge that and honor the power and infinite majesty that lay within it, but he would not say it was right, or bow down as if he were only dust or a brittle leaf blown from an autumn tree, helpless in the wind.

Do not look to Guy Gavriel Kay if you are looking for a quick read, or a book you can easily put down. Look here is you want to become immersed in a world so like our past, yet that never happened.
Sailing to Sarantium (1998) Guy Gavriel Kay : 8/10
Lord of Emperors (2000) Guy Gavriel Kay  : 9/10

Magic and Manners (2016) C.E. Murphy : 9/10
This is historical fantasy of the what-if-magic-existed type. The world is much as we know of it, except that humans have the ability to use magic. It’s a re-telling, of sorts, of Jane Austen.

I was looking for some escapism, this fit the bill to a T.

Tremontaine: Season One Volume One (2016) by Patty Bryant, Joel Derfner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Ellen Kushner, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese and Paul Witcover : 7.5/10
This is a prequel of sorts to Swordspoint, written by various authors as a serial novel. If you have not read Swordspoint, there it is difficult to explain Tremontaine to you. There is no magic here, just a world and time that could have been our past, but wasn’t.

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.

Every December I find myself scrounging around trying to find last years list of proposed Christmas cookies, and trying to remember what cookies I made, and what cookies everyone liked best.

This year I’m making note of everything.

I’ve made several different kinds of biscotti, and I have Many Thoughts on how biscotti should be properly made.

Biscotti aren’t supposed to be “high fat”; a biscotti recipe without butter is the correct way (or the traditional Italian way) to make biscotti. I hate the “less fat” designation because it makes you think something is missing, rather than something is made correct.

Biscotti are for dipping into hot drinks. They are supposed to be crunchy and hard. If you make biscotti with butter, they may hold the flavor better, but they don’t properly absorb the liquid when you dunk them in tea or cocoa (or coffee).

Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich

Chocolate Biscotti with Less Fat

These “low-fat” biscotti are very delicious, and my new favorite biscotti recipe–dutch process cocoa AND chocolate.

YUM.

Simply Sensational Cookies by Nancy Baggett

Cranberry Ginger Spice Biscotti
Spiced Chocolate Biscotti

Nope. The spices were interesting, but the butter made the texture all wrong, so I gave them all away. I learned my lesson–don’t even try making biscotti if the recipe has butter. I won’t like it.

The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook by King Arthur Flour

Orange-Cranberry Biscotti

The KAF cookie book has two recipes for biscotti–Traditional Italian or American Biscotti. You then try any of the variations with your choice of base recipe.

I of course used the Traditional Italian base.

Couple things I’ve discovered making biscotti. First, even when using parchment paper, lightly grease the paper. It makes it much easier to slide the hot biscotti loaf onto the cutting board without burning your hands. Second, in a tip I learned in David Lebovitz’s Room For Dessert, once you blop the the dough into a log (or logs), wet your hands to shape and smooth the log–it makes the sticky dough much easier to handle.

These are some of the better mysteries I read this year. With the except of the three series at the end, I’ve noted only the books I particularly like. If you’d like to see all the books in the series, click on the author and you’ll see all the books listed in publication order at the top of the page.

I read a lot of mysteries this year–more mysteries than fantasy at current count (this could change as I am currently tearing through the Mercy Thompson series for the second time this year).

Most of the mystery I read was historical. For those who are particular about the historical mysteries, or just interested in reading about an unfamiliar era, I’ve noted the years in which the stories were set. (I recently started this, so if you go too far back in the archives, you won’t see the year(s).)

Mystery

Inspector Rebus
This is a collection of all the Rebus stories, including a couple written just for this volume.

Rebus is a fascinating character, with a past in the military before joining the Edinburgh police. He’s a loner and has a sense of justice that doesn’t always see following the rules as the best course of action. If you like police mysteries, this is a good introduction to Rebus. (I think the first story is one of the weaker ones, so don’t judge Rebus on that story.)

I own this series mostly in paperback, and am hoping the ebooks go on sale soon so I can re-read them.
The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories (2015) Ian Rankin : 9/10

Inspector Montalbano
I adore Inspector Montalbano, even though in real life I might be tempted to punch him.

If you are not familiar with Montalbano, then this short story collection, Montalbano’s First Case and Other Stories, would be an excellent place to start. It’s in no way a complete collection (Andrea Camilleri is very prolific) but it gives you a good taste of the characters and the stories.

Some of my favorite exchanges in this series are between Montalbano and Cat. I especially like how Montalbano’s attitude towards Cat changes over the course of the series.

“Catarella, I want you to do me a special, important favor.”

“Chief, when y’ax me poissonally in poisson to do yiz a favor poissonally in poisson, yer doin’ me a favor jess by axin’.”

The baroque courtesies of Catarella.

A Voice in the Night (2012/2016) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli 8/10
Montalbano’s First Case and Other Stories (2008/ 2016) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli : 8/10

Susanna Horenbout and John Parker
Set in England in 1525

I read all available books in this series, but this one I particularly liked. Susanna Horenbout is a Flemish painter sent by her father to the court of King Henry VIII to be his illuminator. John Parker is a trusted courtier of King Henry. Both were real historical figures about whom little is known, aside from their names and that they eventually married.

There is boinking in this series.
In a Treacherous Court (2011) Michelle Diener : 8/10

Regency London
Set in London in 1812.

Giselle Barrington is the daughter of a folklorist with a fascination for cooking. After witnessing the murder of her father, she goes into hiding with the hopes she can pass on the message her father died for.

Although they are not historical characters, they are historically grounded, and the mystery was very good.

There is boinking in this series.
Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener : 9/10

Lady Darby
Set in Scotland, England, and Ireland 1830-1831

The first book was interesting, but didn’t especially impress me. The succeeding books were much better done, and very enjoyable.

Lady Darby has spent the last year and a half hiding in Scotland with her sister and brother-in-law, after the death of her husband and the scandal that arose following that. Sebastian Gage is the son of a famous London inquiry agent. When a murder occurs, both Gage and Lady Darby look into the death—Gage because of her father and Lady Darby because of her past scandal.

The mysteries here are particularly good.
Mortal Arts (2013) Anna Lee Huber : 8/10
A Grave Matter (2014) Anna Lee Huber : 8/10
A Study in Death (2015) Anna Lee Huber : 8/10
As Death Draws Near (2016) Anna Lee Huber : 8/10

Malcom & Suzanne Rannoch
Set in London in 1818

This is an interesting series that often jumps back and forth in time—the books are written jumping through time, although most of the books stick to a single timeline. This book is latest in the timeline, and like all the books in the series, can be read without the previous books.

Malcolm and Suzanne are spies—Malcolm for England and Suzanne for France. In this book, Malcolm knows of Suzanne’s past, and they are continuing to work through the issues caused by this (and other) revelations.
London Gambit (2016) Tracy Grant : 8/10

Sebastian St. Cyr
Set in England in 1813.

I picked up the first book in this series What Angels Fear  back when it came out in 2005, and I’ve pre-ordered every book in the series since then.

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is a young noble who returned from the Napoleonic wars far more bitter than when he left. A lot has happened to Sebastian since the start of the series, including a marriage and a child. I love this series, but you really should start at the beginning, for there are all kinds of revelations as the series progresses.
When Falcons Fall (2016) C.S. Harris : 8.5/10

Kat Halloway
I started the Captain Lacey series and abandoned it several books in. Theoretically there are supposed to be more Kat Halloway mysteries coming, but I haven’t seen one yet.

Set in London in 1880.

Kat is a cook for Sir Lionel Leigh-Bradbury, and better than he deserves, but since he allows her an unusual numbers of days off, she is fine with the situation. They mystery is good, and I especially liked Kat.
A Soupçon of Poison (2015) Ashley Gardener : 8.5/10

I tore through several series–some completely through from start to finish–so rather than listing the books and ratings, I just listed them all in order. If you click through to the author page you can find my reviews on the individual books (and any other books written by that author).

The Sister Fidelma series by Peter Tremayne
Set in England and Ireland in 664-

This is a series I own most of in paperback, and am trying to find on sale as eBooks so I can re-read them. Peter Tremayne was the pseudonym for the scholar Peter Berresford Ellis, and the books are full of historical tidbits, many of which are surprising to the modern reader.

Clergy, even bishops, took spouses; even the religious of houses, whether mixed or not, could have wives and husbands, under Brehon law and custom. But the position of an abbot and abbess was in a different category for they were usually bound to celibacy.

‘Easter?’

‘The Saxons have accepted most of our teaching of Christian faith but as for the Paschal feast they insist on naming it after their pagan goddess of fertility, Eostre, whose rituals fall at the time of the Spring equinox.

The mysteries in the first two books are fine, but improve (IIRC) over the course of the series.
Absolution By Murder (1994), Shroud for the Archbishop (1995)

The Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters
This series is set in England and Wales from 1137 to 1144.

Brother Cadfael is a Welsh Benedictine monk and herbalist living in Shrewsbury, on the Welsh border. He lived a full life as a crusader before he came to take his vows, which makes him far more worldly that many others in his abbey. This series intertwines the fictional characters of the abbey with the historical events of the English Civil War between factions of Maud and Stephen.

The mysteries are good, but what I like best is brother Cadfael.

Meet every man as you find him, for we’re all made the same under habit or robe or rags.

(L)eave agonising too much over your sins, black as they are, there isn’t a confessor in the land who hasn’t heard worse and never turned a hair. It’s a kind of arrogance to be so certain you’re past redemption.”

What you yourself did, that you may rue, and confess, and do penance for, to your soul’s content, but you may not lift another man’s sins from his shoulders, or usurp God’s right to be the only judge.

There is no one who cannot be hated, against whatever odds. Nor anyone who cannot be loved, against all reason.”

A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977), One Corpse Too Many (1979), Monk’s Hood (1980), The Leper of Saint Giles (1981), The Virgin in the Ice (1982), The Sanctuary Sparrow (1983), The Devil’s Novice (1983), Dead Man’s Ransom (1984), The Pilgrim of Hate (1984), An Excellent Mystery (1985), The Raven in the Foregate (1986), The Rose Rent (1986), The Hermit of Eyton Forest (1987), The Confession of Brother Haluin (1988), The Heretic’s Apprentice (1989), The Potter’s Field (1989), The Summer of the Danes (1991), The Holy Thief (1992)

The Owen Archer series by Candace Robb
This series is set in England and Wales from 1363 to 1373.

Owen Archer was the Captain of the Duke of Lancaster’s archers until he lost an eye, after which he became the Duke’s spy. After the Duke’s death, he takes a position for John Thoresby, Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of York. The first book is all from Owen’s POV, but the following books (with the exception of A Gift of Sanctuary) splits POV between Owen and Lucie Wilton, the apothecary of the first book.

There are both fictional and historical characters throughout this series, and the author tried to be as true to both the historical characters and the time as she could. Lucie is a Master Apothecary not because women in such positions were common, but because the town needed her services and the Archbishop owed them a favor.  It is these historical bits that most fascinate me.

“Lucie examined her, Tom. Got her hands in all that blood. What will that do to the child, Lucie looking at all that blood? And the horror of it all?”

‘With each visitation of the pestilence folk have become more inventive with their precautions. A wealthy merchant asked yesterday for enough crushed diamonds to strew round his bed and cut Death’s feet to shreds.’

Yet some things remain the same.

‘Do not leave,’ Phillippa said as Lucie began to walk away. ‘I am relieved to have spoken of it. But I do not remember— oh Lucie, it is the cruellest curse, to be witless one day, lucid the next. It is as if I have been sleepwalking and everyone has witnessed my foolishness. All look at me with such pity— and fear that they, too, might come to this end if they live so long as I have. It is horrible. Horrible.’ Her jaw was set in anger and frustration.

The Apothecary Rose (1993), The Lady Chapel (1994), The Nun’s Tale (1995), The King’s Bishop (1996), The Riddle of St. Leonard’s (1997), A Gift of Sanctuary (1998), A Spy for the Redeemer (2002), The Cross-Legged Knight (2006), The Guilt of Innocents (2006), A Vigil of Spies (2008)

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.

It’s the end of 2016 (which seems nigh near impossible to me, yet there it is), so it’s time to look at the books of 2016.

The following links will be live as I publish (or write) those posts. This is just a handy place to link to everything.

In this year-end round-up, I’ve made note primarily of books I have not read before. I made an exception for two authors I hadn’t read in years. I figured if I didn’t have a real review for the books, I was good mentioning those books here.

Mystery
Fantasy
Romance
Graphic Novels
Non-Fiction (aka Cookbooks)
Good Covers of 2016
– Modern
– Historical

If you click through any of the Amazon links and buy something, it’ll get me hapenny or so, which will eventually let me buy another book.

The year is pulling to a close, which seems utterly ridiculous to me, yet there it is.

I read a LOT this month, for a variety of reasons, some of which were spending an inordinate amount of time in hospital waiting rooms. Let’s just say the past two months have not been the best.

But, I read a lot of GOOD books, some of which were in published in this millennia!

I read two Paul Cornell books, The Severed Streets (2014) and The Lost Child of Lychford (2016), both of which were very good. In fact, Paul Cornell gets kudos for his second Shadow Police book, as it took me COMPLETELY by surprise. Also good was Faith Hunter’s latest Soulwood book, Curse on the Land (2016). If you are a Jane Yellowrock fan, then you’ll like Soulwood, but if you haven’t read any of the Jane books, you’ll be OK jumping into this series. All three of these are supernatural fantasy, but without much boinking.

I also stumbled upon C.E. Murphy’s historical fantasy, Magic and Manners (2016), which was utterly delightful. It’s a Pride & Prejudice with Magic retelling, and there was much to love here–especially the fact it was boink-free. There was also a new Inspector Montalbano, A Voice in the Night (2012/2016) by Andrea Camilleri. This book isn’t a good starting point, but as a series it is well-worth starting if you like police mysteries or loving descriptions of fabulous meals. (No, seriously, Montalbano’s meals are a character all their own in these books.)

So here’s what I read this month.

Mystery
Inspector Montalbano
A Voice in the Night (2012/2016) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8/10)

Historical Mystery
Sister Fidelma
Absolution By Murder(1994) Peter Tremayne (8/10)
Shroud for the Archbishop (1995) Peter Tremayne (8/10)
Brother Cadfael
The Confession of Brother Haluin (1988) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Heretic’s Apprentice (1989) Ellis Peters (9/10)
The Potter’s Field (1989) Ellis Peters (9/10)
The Summer of the Danes (1991) Ellis Peters (9/10)
The Holy Thief(1992) Ellis Peters (9/10)

Supernatural Fantasy
Shadow Police
The Severed Streets (2014) Paul Cornell (9/10)
Soulwood
Curse on the Land (2016) Faith Hunter (8/10)
The Witches of Lychford
The Lost Child of Lychford (2016) Paul Cornell (9/10)

Historical Fantasy
Magic and Manners (2016) C.E. Murphy (9/10)
Tremontaine: Season One Volume One (2016) by Patty Bryant, Joel Derfner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Ellen Kushner, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese and Paul Witcover (7.5/10)
Glamourist Histories
Shades of Milk and Honey (2010) Mary Robinette Kowal (7.5/10)
Glamour in Glass (2012) Mary Robinette Kowal (8/10)
Without a Summer (2013) Mary Robinette Kowal (8/10)
Valour and Vanity (2014) Mary Robinette Kowal (5/10)
The Escapement of Blackledge (2016) Mary Robinette Kowal (7.5/10)

Anthology
Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy (2013) Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Audio
Midnight Taxi Tango, Audible Version (2016) Daniel Jose Older, read by the author (8/10)
The Dragon Conspiracy, Audible Version (2015) Lisa Shearin, narrated by Johanna Parker (8/10)
Broken Soul, Audible Version (2014) Faith Hunter, read by Khristine Hvam (8/10)
Salsa Nocturna, Audible Version (2012/2014) Daniel Jose Older, read by the author (8/10)

That’d be 23 books for the month, the most so far this year, bringing this years total to 170; I’ll probably break my previous record for books read in a single year (2013 and 174 books).

Format-wise, no paper books this month, but I did get around to finally reviewing a bunch of audio books I’d finished and forgotten to write up.
eBook: 19
Audio: 4

This month was NOT all historical mystery! Not that the historical mysteries weren’t good–I just ran out of ones I wanted to read, and none of the new-to-me series I started caught my interest.
Fantasy: 15
Mystery: 8
Romance: 2
Anthology: 1

As far as authors, I actually read some male authors this month, but female authors (including those using pseudonyms) were still ahead.
Male: 7
Female: 9
Male Pseudonym: 5
Anthology: 1
Joint: 1

And those are the books of November. If you haven’t read Paul Cornell, I really enjoy his writing and both of these books. However, the Witches of Lychford and the Shadow Police are quite different, and I wouldn’t recommend the latter for people who don’t like monsters (including human monsters who do terrible things).

Vanilla Cinnamon Bread
from The New Best of Better Baking by Marcy Goldman

Dough
1 ½ cups warm water
2 ½ tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
½ cup sugar (vanilla sugar if you have it)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ tsp salt (vanilla salt if you have it)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp non-fat dry milk
¼ cup instant potato flakes (1)
3 ½ to 4 ½ cups bread flour (2) (3)

Filling
Milk
2 tbsp cinnamon
¼ cup sugar (vanilla sugar if you have it)

Two 8- x 4- inch bread pans

Add yeast to water and let sit for a few minutes. Stir in butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, dry milk, and potato flakes / flour. Add 3 ½ cups of bread flour and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to form a soft dough. (As noted, I use potato flour, and it is a really sticky dough that never cleanly pulls away from the sides of the bowl.)

Let dough rise 30 to 45 minutes, or until about doubled.

Mix together cinnamon and sugar.

Roll out dough into a 12 by 10 rectangle. Brush dough with milk. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Roll up into a log and cut in half to make 2 loaves and place in pans. (I actually cut in half before rolling, and manipulate the roll, pinching in the ends, so that the cinnamon sugar bits are sealed inside. This makes a finished loaf that is a bit more like poticza and less like normal cinnamon bread, but makes the pans MUCH easier to clean. And I like the more random cinnamon swirld.)

Cover and let rise for 30-45 minutes, or until dough rises just above the edge of the pan.

Preheat oven to 350. I generally preheat for at least 30 minutes, or try to bake something else before the bread so the oven is definitely at temp, but then I keep a baking stone in the bottom of my oven.

Bake 35-45 minutes or until loaves are brown. Cool in pans for 15 minutes then remove from pan.

(1) I only have potato flour, and I’ve dropped it to 2 tbsp and it’s still a very sticky.
(2) 1 cup of flour = 4.5 oz for her recipes
(3) I’ve used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and added 1 tsp gluten

for Amy

Peach Rum Sauce
From the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

6 cups chopped, pitted, peeled peaches
2 cups light brown sugar, lightly packed
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup rum
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Combine ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.

Reduce heat and boil, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 20 minutes.

¼ inch head space, process 8 oz jars for 10 minutes.

If you don’t like historical mysteries, feel free to skip to the end. And if you already know how awesome Ellis Peter’s Brother Cadfael mysteries, same.

I’d picked a bunch of the Brother Cadfael mysteries up years ago, when they were on sale, but hadn’t gotten around to reading them. After finishing the Owen Archer series, I was floundering about looking for something else and couldn’t find the book/series to hit the spot, till I decided to read this.

I really like this series. It’s one of the best historical mystery series I’ve read in a very long time, and doesn’t suffer when reading one book after the other (some series, I can ready a couple books then have to take a break).

Historical Mystery

Brother Cadfael
A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) Ellis Peters (8.5/10)
One Corpse Too Many (1979) Ellis Peters (8.5/10)
Monk’s Hood (1980) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Leper of Saint Giles (1981) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Virgin in the Ice (1982) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Sanctuary Sparrow (1983) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Devil’s Novice (1983) Ellis Peters (8.5/10)
Dead Man’s Ransom (1984) Ellis Peters (9/10)
The Pilgrim of Hate (1984) Ellis Peters (9/10)
An Excellent Mystery (1985) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Raven in the Foregate (1986) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Rose Rent (1986) Ellis Peters (8/10)
The Hermit of Eyton Forest (1987) Ellis Peters (8/10)

Charles Finch
A Stranger in Mayfair (2010) Charles Finch (6/10)

Now to the stats!

I read 14 books in October, bringing my total for the year to 147–the same number of books I read in all 2009.

All the books were ebooks, the books were mysteries. Currently, this is the highest percentage of mysteries I’ve read in a single year 92010 and 2015 were 34% mysteries).

And male authors fell even further behind, with only a single book this month–Ellis Peters was a male pseudonym, so this puts female authors even further ahead of the male authors writing only 19% of the books I’ve ready this year.

That’s it for October. I’m getting close to the end of the Brother Cadfael series, so I’m going to have to figure out what I’m going to read next–possibly a bunch of new releases I’ve been ignoring.

This weekend we did some hiking, but that was just a means to and end–to enjoy how beautiful Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley were.

Blackwater Falls

Canaan Valley

I’ve finally gotten enough done on my Hiking WV pages, that I’ve made links to the site.

The State Parks section is pretty much done and will (hopefully) be updated. The National Parks section has yet to be started. (NOTE: The Coopers Rock pages is totally not done. We’ve hiked all the official trails, so I have a fair amount of data to parse.)

The pages have a single picture (when available) of that site, a link to my Flickr album (if there is one), a link to the state park website (if there is one), and the trails hiked as well as distances, elevations, and GPS maps (if there were any).

Please let me know what you think, and what recommendations you have for making it more usable.

Should there be a menu listing all the parks? Are there other categories that would be useful? Should I have a link to the official trail map for that park or is the map to park site sufficient?

The hiking trails are sometimes listed individually, sometimes as a group, depending upon how they were hiked. Does this make a difference to anyone?

I know I need a region map, because I don’t know of anyone who is aware of all those region designations, but the map I found isn’t very high quality.

There are a lot of posts going around FB about how it is essentially immoral to vote for a third party candidate.

Mind you, most of those articles are directed towards the presidential election, but still the statements are broad and sweeping.

And I do understand these statements, for I’ve given friends a hard time for voting for Ralph Nader over Al Gore, and giving us W (something for which WV continues to suffer, as the recession hit us later and harder than the rest of the country, and never mind the lives lost in Iraq).

And so I understand these statements, for this presidential election is terrifying.

But still, it is their right to vote for whom they please, and to vote their conscience. And at least they’re voting, which is something many many people can’t be bothered to do. Which makes even less sense to me. Because when we vote in November, the presidential ticket is just one of the contests, many of which will have as much if not more influence on our day-to-day lives. (1) (2)

Which brings me the article that started off this rant.

The governor’s race in WV.

Billionaire Gubernatorial Candidate Owes $15 Million in Taxes and Fines

His mining companies owe $15 million in six states, including property and minerals taxes, state coal severance and withholding taxes, and federal income, excise and unemployment taxes, as well as mine safety penalties, according to county, state and federal records.
…
In the past 16 months, while fines and taxes went unpaid, Justice personally contributed nearly $2.9 million in interest-free loans and in-kind contributions to his gubernatorial campaign, according to state campaign finance reports.

I cannot in good conscience vote for either major party candidate.

I simply cannot. I don’t believe that either candidate truly has the good of West Virginians and the future of our state in mind. Not only do their words show a willful ignorance of what the future is going to hold, their past actions show that they haven’t held the good of the state and it’s people as most important.

Say what you will about the late Senator Byrd, but that man did everything–absolutely everything–to help the state. To make our lives better and give us a future. Not by putting his name on every building in the state, but by recognizing that without things other states take for granted, like roads that are capable of handling commercial truck traffic, we had no future.

We cannot base our future upon non-renewable resources.

We simply cannot.

We have so much to offer here, so much beauty and recreation and and so many marvels–marvels and beauty that will be destroyed if we refuse to acknowledge that our future does not and cannot lie with extractive industries.

A politician that refuses to acknowledge that truth cannot have the good of the state in mind, and cannot care about our future generations and what we are leaving them.

And that is why I won’t be voting for either of the major party candidates for governor. Because I love this state, and it doesn’t seem like the candidates even care.

——

(1) Every time we sit in horrible traffic on the Mileground, we’re sitting there because a decade ago people refused to approve the levy to widen the road. That’s hours and hours of time lost in the intervening years, as the situation got worse, and will be even more difficult and time-consuming and miserable to remedy now.

(2) And then there are the city-wide debates over land use and farming and keeping livestock within city limits. These are issues we are going to deal with the results of going forward for years. Should you have the right to grow your own food? Should you be forced to live next to a chicken coop that is both noisy and poorly cleaned? These decisions will affect our quality of life going forward, and whether you refuse to vote or not, you still have to live with the consequences.

And it’s barely October!

I read 14 books this month, which puts me at 133 books for the year, which means I’ve read more books by October than I read in all of 2008, 2010, and 2011.

For what that’s worth.

Which isn’t much.

The best books were the Owen Archer series by Candace Robb (I believe this historical mystery series is completed),
Blood of the Earth the new start of a new series by Faith Hunter set in Jane Yellowrock’s world, and the second Rivers of London comic series, Rivers of London: Night Witch by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, Luis Guerrero. Plus I enjoyed Thor Volume 1: Goddess of Thunder. That was fun, even if there was a crap of subtext I totally missed.

Mystery, Historical

Owen Archer
The King’s Bishop (1996) Candace Robb (8/10)
The Riddle of St. Leonard’s (1997) Candace Robb (8/10)
A Gift of Sanctuary (1998) Candace Robb (7.5/10)
A Spy for the Redeemer (2002) Candace Robb (8/10)
The Cross-Legged Knight (2006) Candace Robb (8/10)
The Guilt of Innocents (2006) Candace Robb (8.5/10)
A Vigil of Spies (2008) Candace Robb (8/10)
Charles Lennox
The Fleet Street Murders (2009) Charles Finch (6/10)
The September Society (2008) Charles Finch (6/10)

Fantasy, Supernatural

Soulwood
Blood of the Earth (2016) Faith Hunter (8/10)

Graphic Novel

Rivers of London: Night Witch (2016) by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, Luis Guerrero (9/10)
Thor Volume 1: Goddess of Thunder (2015) Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman (8/10)
Hellboy in Mexico (2016) Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, Mick Mahon, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba
She-Hulk Volume 2: Disorderly Conduct (2015) Charles Soule and Javier Pulido (6/10)

You might find this hard to believe, but I actually read four paper books this month!

They were all comics, but still! Paper!

And only two re-reads in September. Mostly because I was busy devouring the Owen Archer series.

Genre-wise, it was predominantly mysteries this month, plus the comics.

Fantasy : 2
Mystery : 9
Comic : 4

As far as authors go, men were almost even this month, but female authors are still way ahead for the year. (And will likely stay ahead, since the series I just started, I discovered was written under a male pseudonym.)

Male : 6
Female : 8

And that’s this month’s reading wrap-up!

Today needed something relaxingly active, so we took a trip to the WV Botanic Garden

Happy Fall!

We’d discussed hiking in the Cranberry Wilderness, but I’d wanted to visit the Nature Center, since it closes mid-October. To get to the trails we’d considered, we’d have had to either back-track to Richwood, or take the Highland Scenic Highway all the way around the wilderness, so we instead decided to walk on the forest road past the boardwalk and see where that took us.

We took the North Fork trail up to the Kennison Mountain trail and then turned around and came back down.

Location: Cranberry Backcountry
Trail: North Fork Trail
Distance: 5.0 miles
Elevation: 3380-4113 feet (Average 5.6% grade)

There were a couple of steepish sections, but mostly it was a (relatively) gradual uphill hike (gradual for WV mind you).

oops

The lower portion of the trail meandered across several creeks, most of which were flowing from the previous night’s rain.

It was really really pretty.

If you’re looking to hike in more solitude than you’ll find in busier parks and forests (like our local forest, Coopers Rock) then I cannot recommend highly enough visiting the Cranberry Wilderness.