A Test of Wills (1996) Charles Todd This was a re-read. After reading and thoroughly enjoying the Bess Crawford mystery, I remembered I had several books in Charles Todd’s Ian Rutledge series, and decided to reread them. Inspector Rutledge of Scotland Yard served in the Great War, and he’s suffering shell shock from his experiences […]
Home Improvement: Undead Edition (2011) Charlaine Harris, Toni L. P. Kelner As with most anthologies, there are stories here I really liked, and some that I found to be just okay. What was unusual was that there were some stories that I actually strongly disliked. “Gray” by Patricia Briggs isn’t a Mercy Thompson story, but […]
American Gods: Tenth Anniversary Edition (2001/2011) Neil Gaiman I needed some comfort reading to distract me, so since I’d picked up the 10th anniversary edition of American Gods for the kindle awhile ago, it won the comfort reading lottery. I’ve read American Gods many times before, but not this version with the expanded material. Only […]
X-23 Vol. 3: Don’t Look Back (2012) Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda, Phil Noto This is (apparently [at least for now]) the conclusion to Laura’s story arc. The first part of the story–pretty much ‘Adventures in Babysitting’ with X-23 I really could have one without. It felt like they needed to shoehorn some action adventure in, […]
X-23 Vol. 2: Chaos Theory (2012) Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda, Phil Noto What could this be? Why, it’s a new volume of X-23! This wasn’t bad, but it’s still nowhere near as good as Craig Kyle’s take on X-23 in Innocence Lost and Target X. The first half of this volume is very good–X-23/Laura continues […]
So, yeah. I went to put away my new X-23 comics, and instead ended up rereading all the X-23 and NYX books. Oops! The stories written by Craig Kyle were still–far and away–my favorites. X-23: Innocence Lost (2006) Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Billy Tan, Jon Sibal X-23: Target X (2007) Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Mike […]
The Killing Dream (2011) Marjorie Liu, Will Conrad It’s possible I should have paused a bit, between reading X-23: Target X and The Killing Dream, because Target X is really really good. That’s not to say The Killing Dream is bad–it’s just not as good as Target X. Apparently, Things Happened between Target X and […]
Target X (2007) Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Mike Choi I really liked the X-23 comics, but for some reason had only read NYX and Innocence Lost. Target X is the same author and storyline as Innocence Lost. We see what has happened to Laura after her escape, and how she has continued to struggle with […]
Steel’s Edge (2012) Ilona Andrews According to Ilona Andrews, this is the last book in the Edge series. In the future they may write in this world (and about some of these characters) again, but as it is, they’re done with The Edge series. Second point, this is a relatively long book. Although the story […]
Fairest Vol 1: Wide Awake (2012) Bill Willingham, Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, Matthew Sturges, Shawn McManus If you know me at all, you know that I love Fables. However, I have not loved the spin-off comics. I straight-up dislike Jack of Fables, nor did I like Cinderella (though Cinderella was not written by Bill Willingham.) […]
Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland (2012) Bill Willingham, Craig Hamilton, Jim Fern, Ray Snyder, Mark Farmer I love Fables. Werewolves of the Heartland is a Bigby Wolf stand-alone story. Bigby is out searching for a new home for Fables, now that New York (city and state) are no longer safe. They found records in Bluebeard’s […]
Garrett Investigates (2012) Elizabeth Bear Five short Abby Irene short stories, covering most of her career, from 1897 to 1941. The first story, “The Tricks of London” has her investigating the return of Spring-Heeled Jack. Although the story set from the point-of-view of the Detective Sergeant Sean Cuan, we get to see Abby Irene early […]
Black Thorn, White Rose: A Modern Book of Adult Fairytales (1994) edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling There were several of these collections in the 90s–and I had the first two if I remember correctly. These are fairy tales retold–some with a change in the point of view, some retold in a modern setting, […]
The Very Best of Charles de Lint (2010) Charles de Lint I love Charles de Lint. I believe I have all of his mass published story anthologies, and several of the smaller press novellas, so I’d read most of the stories in this collection. Doesn’t matter. I can read his stories time and again, and […]
Simply Sensational Cookies (2012) Nancy Baggett So, maybe I have a problem. This is the fourth cookbook–dessert cookbook (and third cookie book)–I’ve finished in a week. But I love baking. What can I say? And I’m always looking for just that perfect cookie. I have two other of Nancy Baggett’s dessert cookbooks, so when this […]
Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts (2012) Alice Medrich As I’ve noted before, I am very fond of Alice Medrich’s Cookies and Brownies, so along with Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies I also picked up Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts. There are a lot of recipes I want to try here, though I have made only one […]
Rose’s Christmas Cookies (1998) Rose Levy Beranbaum You can tell it’s getting colder–I’m starting to obsess over baking books and looking and possible Christmas cookies. (NOTE: This is the ONLY Christmas thing I am interested in. I don’t want to hear Christmas music or see decorations until AFTER Thanksgiving.) I very much liked the pictures, […]
The Heavenly Fox (2011) Richard Parks A fox who reaches the age of fifty gains the ability to transform into a human woman. A fox who reaches the age of one hundred can transform into either a beautiful young girl or a handsome young man at will and can sense the world around them to […]
Brave Companions: Portraits In History (1992) David McCullough This collection of essays move forward in American history, as David McCullough writes about everyone from Harriet Beecher Stowe to Emily Roebling to the city of Washington D.C. Perhaps oddly, it is the last essay (the one that reads like a graduation speech) that I liked the […]
Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies (2010) Alice Medrich I love Alice Medrich’s Cookies and Brownies so much that the pages fell out of my original copy. So how could I resist a new–and LARGER!–cookie book? So what do we have? ~340 pages of recipes with plenty of notes and pictures and options and alternatives […]
Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron (2012) edited by Jonathan Strahan This is a lovely YA anthology, with some amazing stories by some of my favorite authors. I didn’t love all the stories, but none of them were bad. The theme is young witches coming of age, but the stories are far greater than […]
Between the Dark and the Daylight: And 27 More of the Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year (2009) edited by Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg I generally love mystery anthologies, but I had a hard time with this one. First and foremost, the collection is full of unreliable narrators. I have absolutely […]
Death’s Rival (2012) Faith Hunter Jane has tried to escape Leo Pellisier and the vampires of New Orleans, however, something–or someone–is making vampires all over the country sick, so Jane heads out to collection information (and generally act as Leo’s Enforcer). Jane has been walking a very fine line (and not even walking it at […]
Aloha from Hell (2011) Richard Kadrey James Stark–better known in Hell as Sandman Slim–enjoys not being in Hell. He enjoys not having to fight for his life, or assassinate other Hellions on the orders of the Hellion who owned him. He’s gotten revenge on most of the people who sent him to Hell and murdered […]
Have Stakes Will Travel (2012) Faith Hunter This is a collection of four Jane Yellowrock stories, ranging from the time when Jane and Beast ran wild to the time past the end of the last book. “We Sa and the Lumber King” is set during the time when Beast was in control, probably the late […]
Crimes by Moonlight (2010) edited by Charlaine Harris stories by Charlaine Harris, Carolyn Hart I started this anthology more than a year ago, got bored with it and put it down, then finally decided I was just going to FINISH it. Needless to say, my memories of the stories at the start is rather faint. […]
An Apple for the Creature (2012) edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner; stories by Jonathan Maberry, Donald Harstad, Marjorie M. Liu, Rhys Bowen, Amber Benson, Mike Carey, Faith Hunter, Ilona Andrews, Steve Hockensmith, Nancy Holder First, I hate this title. It grates on my nerves like nails down a chalkboard. Luckily, the […]
Down These Strange Streets (2011) edited by Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin If you look at the list of authors above, you’ll immediately see why I read this series. There are some of my favorite authors here–many of whom write short stories I tend to love. And surprisingly, I loved most of these […]
Baking (2009) James Peterson I love baking books, and I especially love baking books that focus on technique as well as recipes. I love to bake, and I want to become a better baker. Cooking may be an art and a science, but baking is far more science than art, and knowing the science makes […]
Vulture Peak (2012) John Burdett Sonchai is in over his head now. Colonel Vikorn has decided (was ordered?) to run for governor of Bangkok. Because General Zinna controls the local trade in body parts, Vikorn has decided that wiping out selling of illegal body parts is the way to make his name and propel himself […]
Ashes of Honor (2012) Seanan McGuire Toby has, in theory, been putting her life back in order. But mostly she is still grieving the loss of her lover and her daughter. When she is asked to find a lost Changeling child–a child who has powers that may well turn out to be a threat to […]
A Fatal Waltz (2008) Tasha Alexander Lady Emily’s marriage to Colin Hargreaves was put off when Lord Fortescue arranged to have Hargreaves sent overseas on a mission. Fortescue opposes Emily’s marriage to Colin and will do everything possible to end their engagement. Thus it is with some surprise that Lady Emily finds herself invited to […]
Sandman Vol 3: Dream Country (1990) Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Colleen Doran, Charles Vess, Malcolm Jones III I’m particularly fond of this volume–I quite like the Shakespeare story, as well as the dream of a thousand cats. Rating: 8/10 Published by Vertigo
Sandman Vol 2: The Doll’s House (1990) Neil Gaiman, Malcolm Jones III, Mike Dringenberg, Michael Zulli Here we see glimpses of where the story is going–as well as the relationship between the Endless. (I sometimes forgot what a bastard Desire is.)
Sandman Vol 1: Preludes and Nocturnes Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III “I’m not going to reread Sandman right now. Sandman makes me cry.” Yeah. So, just finished rereading volume 1. Death is before me today: like the recovery of a sick man, like going forth into a garden after sickness. Death […]
Hex Appeal (2012) edited by P.N. Elrod; Stories by P.N. Elrod, Carrie Vaughn, Ilona Andrews, Jim Butcher, Simon R Green, Rachel Caine (and others) As I was expecting, this collection was a mixed bag. Luckily, the good stories were very good, and worth the price of the anthology. I bought the anthology first and foremost […]
One Grave at a Time (2011) Jeaniene Frost Here’s what I don’t get. That horrific cover? Same author. Same publisher, but the covers for this series are pretty damned awesome. And this doesn’t even merit something Jim Hines could mock for unrealistic/uncomfortable body poses! Plus, it’s a great book! I love how there’s still story […]
Hellboy Vol 12: The Storm and the Fury (2012) Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo Oh. Wow. I wasn’t expecting that at all. The Hellboy series has typically alternated volumes of short stories with volumes of the ongoing series. I generally tend to prefer the short story collections, but have read the ongoing stories with interest. Well, […]
Hellboy Vol 11: The Bride of Hell and Others (2011) Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, Kevin Nowlan, Scott Hampton By all rights, I shouldn’t like the Hellboy comics at all. Except, how can I not love a story containing dialog like this? HEY EMILE! Cut it out. You’re making the dead people nervous. That bit was […]
Girl Genius Book 11: Agatha Heterodyne and the Hammerless Bell (2012) Phil & Kaja Foglio Clanks! Fighting! Even smooching! It’s the latest Agatha Heterodyne book! Rating: 8/10 Published by Airship Entertainment
Kitty Steals the Show (2012) Carrie Vaughn Kitty has come a long way from when she was first attacked. She’s now alpha of her own pack, and a public face for werewolves in the US, both because of her radio show, and her (involuntary) pubic outing as a were. That status has led to her […]
Gunmetal Magic (2012) Ilona Andrews This book is set in Kate’s world, and Kate (of course) make appearances, but this is the story of Andrea and Raphael. Andrea has been outed as a shapeshifter and forced out the Order, which has been her entire life. As a shapeshifter she is required by Pack Laws to […]
Beastly Things (2012) Donna Leon I love this series. I love spending time in Venice with Commissario Brunetti and has family, I love all the characters he deals with, and I love the complexity of his family and co-workers. It’s funny, but for the most part, the mysteries take a back seat to everything else […]
A Dream of Stone and Shadow (2006) Marjorie M. Liu Charlie is a gargoyle, being held captive by a witch who enjoys taking advantage of some of his more… unusual properties. Emma is an abused child who Charlie’s spirit stumbles upon in its wanderings. Aggie is a member of Dirk & Steele who can catch […]
Fables 17: Inherit the Wind (2012) Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Shawn McManus The North Wind is dead! Long live the North Wind! That’s right, someone has to become the new North Wind, and the best candidates are the cubs. Meanwhile, in the Land of Oz, Bufkin and several others are on the run […]
Drawing Conclusions (2010) Donna Leon I love Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti series. Brunetti is a mostly honest police detective who works in a mostly dishonest and entirely complex system. He is also in love with his wife and has two decent kids, and has co-workers who respect him. Of course, everything isn’t perfect. His boss […]
About Face (2009) Donna Leon I checked my shelves and noticed I didn’t have About Face. The reason I didn’t see it is because I’d gotten it on clearance in hardback. So, it’s just as well I now have it in paperback. And of course, once I started reading, I had to finish re-reading it. […]
Tempest’s Fury (2012) Nicole Peeler Fury. Yes, that’s what I was feeling when I finished the book to a GIANT CLIFFHANGER. That was NOT cool. Especially since I’d really been enjoying the book up to that point. But now? Fury. OK, on her website she says this is the penultimate book of the Jane True […]
Urban Shaman (2005) C. E. Murphy Joanne Walker is flying home from her mother’s funeral with the expectation of being fired from her job as a mechanic for the Seattle police. Staring out the window of the plane as the come in for a landing, she sees a woman being chased. Even though she doesn’t […]
Botany for Gardeners: Third Edition (2010) Brian Capon It’s been a long time since my botany classes in college. A long time. I’ve recently found myself trying to remember basic botany / plant physiology / plant geography etc recently, but as all my college text books are long gone, I decided I needed a refresh. […]