Two new 2022 releases for your consideration... The Paradox by Rob Hart January Cole’s job just got a whole lot harder. Not that running security at the Paradox was ever really easy. Nothing’s simple at a hotel where the ultra-wealthy tourists arrive costumed for a dozen different time periods, all eagerly waiting to catch their…
A few more new books for your consideration... Two Lumps of Sugar for Mr. Anxiety by Eli Wilde (release date: March 28, 2022) When Jed’s mum dies, his world is turned upside down and his anxiety finds a new source of unease to feed upon. After the funeral, he leaves his job in England to…
Three more new and upcoming releases for your consideration... No Second Chances by Rio Youers (released February 22, 2022) Luke Kingsley’s glory days are behind him. A star on the rise, his life and career imploded after his soul singer wife, Lisa Hayes, disappeared without a trace, silencing a very public and tumultuous marriage. Most…
Work has eaten into my once torrid reading pace, but I did read two books last week... The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (January 4, 2022 release) Frida Liu is struggling. She doesn’t have a career worthy of her Chinese immigrant parents’ sacrifices. What’s worse is she can’t persuade her husband, Gust, to…
A relatively light reading week for me... Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner Helen’s idyllic life—handsome architect husband, gorgeous Victorian house, and cherished baby on the way (after years of trying)—begins to change the day she attends her first prenatal class and meets Rachel, an unpredictable single mother-to-be. Rachel doesn’t seem very maternal: she smokes, drinks,…
Another half dozen recent and upcoming releases for your consideration... The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk Liesl Weiss has been (mostly) happy working in the rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when…
Six more new and upcoming titles for your consideration... Devil House by John Darnielle Gage Chandler is descended from kings. That's what his mother always told him. Now, he is a true crime writer, with one grisly success--and movie adaptation--to his name, along with a series of subsequent lesser efforts that have paid the bills…
Another six new and upcoming releases for you to check out - or not: The High House by Jessie Greengrass Perched on a sloping hill, set away from a small town by the sea, the High House has a tide pool and a mill, a vegetable garden, and, most importantly, a barn full of supplies.…
More new and upcoming releases for your consideration... The Puppet Maker's Daughter by Karla M. Jay Hungary 1944. The war comes late to Budapest. Nineteen-year-old Marika, forced out of nursing school, believes she and her Jewish family will remain safe, even as Nazi soldiers fill their cobbled streets. With Russians to their east, the Allies…
A few more new and upcoming books for your consideration... Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor…
My torrid reading year continues apace... Red Dirt Girl by C.A. Lupton It’s the late postgenomic era and the loss of habitable landmass has led to severe limits on human birth. In the drive for species perfection, fewer and fewer can breed, and the long-simmering tension between the reproductive ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ is coming…
As promised, I would be picking up my reading this year. Here are brief reviews of some of the 2022 releases I've read so far in January... The Insecure Mind of Sergei Kraev by Eric Silberstein The year is 2100. The lack of trust that characterized the early Internet era is long behind us. Mathematical…
I read 54 science fiction novels this year. These were my favorites... The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi The Interdependency, humanity’s interstellar empire, is on the verge of collapse. The Flow, the extra-dimensional conduit that makes travel between the stars possible, is disappearing, leaving entire star systems stranded. When it goes, human civilization may go…