Book #134 of 2019: Witchmark by C. L. Polk (The Kingston Cycle #1) A charming story, both for its Edwardian-flavored fantasy setting and for the tender gay romance at its heart. The worldbuilding details of bicycle traffic and early electric lights stop just short of twee, but my favorite is possibly that there’s no signs …
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Book Review: The Binding by Bridget Collins
Book #133 of 2019: The Binding by Bridget Collins There’s a decent gay love story somewhere in here, but overall this is a real mess of a novel. The entire arc of the first third is just an ignorant protagonist gradually becoming more informed about the magic of the setting, which is frustrating since it …
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Book Review: The Test by Sylvain Neuvel
Book #132 of 2019: The Test by Sylvain Neuvel Let me be the latest reviewer to compare this novella to an episode of Black Mirror. (In fact, I’ll go further: since author Sylvain Neuvel was contracted to write an original piece for an announced Black Mirror book that never did get published, there’s a strong …
Book Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Book #131 of 2019: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid I adore the story of this aging Hollywood starlet presenting her memoirs, especially once it becomes clear that the true love of her life was not any of the men in the title, but rather a fellow actress — a relationship …
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Book Review: Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb
Book #130 of 2019: Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb (The Rain Wild Chronicles #1) The fourth series in Robin Hobb’s larger Elderlings saga starts out pretty slowly (and doesn’t improve much on that front, if memory serves). That’s a common fault in the author’s works, but it’s so aggravated in this initial Rain Wilds novel …
Book Review: Kingdom of Needle and Bone by Mira Grant
Book #129 of 2019: Kingdom of Needle and Bone by Mira Grant Although this novella has an important message about vaccination and herd immunity, the characters and the plot feel pretty abbreviated. That’s partly an artifact of length, but author Mira Grant — who also publishes under the name Seanan McGuire — has been able …
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Book Review: The Name of God is Mercy by Pope Francis
Book #150 of 2017: The Name of God is Mercy by Pope Francis A short but powerful tract from Pope Francis on the merciful aspect of God’s nature, especially as interpreted through Catholic doctrine. His Holiness explains, with citations to scripture and centuries of church scholarship, how God is eternally forgiving of people’s shortcomings and …
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Book Review: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Book #128 of 2019: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials #1) Another old favorite that I’m revisiting, this time in anticipation of the upcoming TV adaptation. This trilogy ultimately goes in some odd directions (and I was underwhelmed by its recent prequel), but the first novel is a masterful piece of fiction, …
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Book Review: My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Book #127 of 2019: My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite Prickly, brooding, and bitingly hilarious, this short novel is many things in not very many pages. It’s the story of a devoted older sister who loves her beautiful sibling, yet resents being stuck in her shadow — and having to keep cleaning up …
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Book Review: Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
Book #126 of 2019: Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep This is practically three books in one, and while I appreciate the overall effort, I do feel like the project weakens as it goes along and doesn’t quite tie together as closely as I would like in …
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