Through a Glass Darkly (2006) Donna Leon I actually started this weeks ago, put it back down, and then took a long time to get back to it. Commissario Brunetti is asked, as a favor, to go out with Vianello, to help bail out an environmental activist (and friend of Vianello) who was arrested during […]

Night Watch (2006) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield narrated by Paul Michael I actually recently re-read Night Watch, which is a good thing, because if I hadn’t, then I would have ended up picking it up to re-read towards the end of the first section of the audio book. That’s the problem I have […]

The Thief (1996) Megan Whalen Turner I’ve been feeling out of sorts, and every book I start to read I put right back down, because it’s not what I’m in the mood for. Which is how I ended up re-reading The Thief, because it sucks me in and doesn’t let go. I keep trying to […]

Here are books for middle grade readers and older kids. A lot of these I can recommend for adult readers, they’re really very good (and with online ordering, you don’t have to skulk into the kids section, feeling like a creep who doesn’t belong). Part I – Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers Part II – Pre-Schoolers and […]

I mostly review adult and YA books, but because there are a lot of kids in my life, there are also a lot of kids books in my life, so here are some books for the kids in your life. Books for Kids Part I These are some good books for pre-schoolers and middle grade […]

As I reader, one of my goals in life is to help all the small people in my life become readers. So I give a LOT of books as gifts–enough that I had to create a spreadsheet so I could track who has received what. As I was wrapping books for the latest birthday, I […]

Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls (2013) Elliot James Another John Charming story, this occurs after Charmed I’m Sure and references that story. I think I figured out the problem I have with these short stories. They all being with a flash forward, or whatever the hell you call it. It’s not a bad technique in and […]

DOG-GONE (2013) Elliott James This was an interesting story, and told me a little more about John Charming, the world he lives in, and his magical/mystical talents. But I also found it rather confusing in parts, especially the beginning where the POV switches around. I had to go back and reread a couple times before […]

River of Stars (2013) Guy Gavriel Kay First, this cover is gorgeous. The picture links to a large version of the cover and NOT the book at Amazon. The link to Amazon is the title text (if you’d like to help me earn bits of a penny.) Like all his work, this is an immense, […]

Charmed I’m Sure (2013) Elliott James I love short stories–they’re like catnip to me. And short stories that introduce a character or author’s writing before I have to buy the book are even better (I’ve gotten better about not finishing books I dislike, but I hate having spent money on terrible books, especially if I […]

Engraved on the Eye (2012) Saladin Ahmed I actually follow on Twitter (@saladinahmed) and when I saw he had a collection of short stories available, snapped it up, because I love short stories. These stories are set in the East, which, I fully admit took a bit for me to get used to–I’ve not yet […]

The Doctor Wore Petticoats: Women Physicians of the Old West (2006) Chris Enss The stories in this book are very interesting–it’s a look at the women who were the pioneers of medicine in the old West. The problem is that the writing is pretty terrible. Each women is introduced with a somewhat fictionalized tale of […]

Jack The Giant-Killer (Jack of Kinrowan) (1987) Charles de Lint Jack of Kinrowan is actually two books, that were later published as a single compendium: Jack the Giant-Killer and Drink Down the Moon. I’ll write about them separately, as they’re two separate books, published three years apart, even though you can only find Jack of […]

She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (2011) Helen Castor This was my most recent “read before bed” book, so it took me quite awhile to finish, and I can’t say that a lot of it will stick with me, but it was interesting. The book looks at queens who attempted to rule England […]