Book #47 of 2024: The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson [Disclaimer: I am Facebook friends with this author.] I’ve read most of author Brandon Sanderson’s published writing, and this Hugo Award-winning fantasy novella from 2012 remains my absolute favorite, a title I’ve returned to and reread on multiple occasions (both as a standalone feature and …
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Book #46 of 2024: Doctor Who: The Giggle by James Goss This. THIS is what I’ve been hoping for from these recent Doctor Who novelizations, a winking adaptation that elevates its source material into something even madder and ever more brilliant. Don’t get me wrong: this James Goss novel obviously owes its existence to the …
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Book #44 of 2024: Dark Heir by C. S. Pacat (Dark Rise #2) I loved the twist at the end of the first Dark Rise novel, but felt like the majority of the book leading up to it was too slow-paced and generic for my tastes (shadowy riders chasing a young farmboy from his home …
Book #43 of 2024: The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson I was initially drawn in by the protagonist of this work, a troubled gay Black teen struggling to settle into his new Vermont boarding school when the forest just outside its grounds keeps whispering at him. Unfortunately, the novel that follows doesn’t really …
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Book #42 of 2024: Aurelius (to be called) Magnus by Victoria Goddard From what I’ve read so far, the majority of author Victoria Goddard’s Nine Worlds saga takes place in and around the time of Artorin Damara, the hundredth and final Emperor of Astandalas. This prequel novella, by contrast, is set many centuries prior, and …
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Book #41 of 2024: Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie Author Agatha Christie’s 80th book, published on the occasion of her 80th birthday in 1970, is one of only four of her novels that have never been adapted for television or film. I’ve already read two of the others, Death Comes as the End and …
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Book #40 of 2024: Alien Terror by Chris Archer (Mindwarp #1) Another old middle-grade reread for me. As a series launcher, this title has potential, although it remains mostly setup for the future at this point. When wimpy kid Ethan turns 13, he gains super-strength and expert fighting skills during times of stress, but is …
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Book #39 of 2024: Book of Nightmares by John Peel (Diadem #6) This was the last of the original six Diadem books published by Scholastic from 1997 to 1998, after which the middle-grade fantasy series would lie dormant for almost a decade until getting revived under another publisher. Presumably that’s also why it’s the first …
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Book #37 of 2024: West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman I always feel a little bad about giving a book my lowest rating, but this pretentious postmodern whodunnit irked me for most of the way through and then ended even worse than it began. The basic premise is pretty standard for the genre: a detective …
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Book #35 of 2024: The Bride of the Blue Wind by Victoria Goddard (The Sisters Avramapul #1) Much as I’ve been enjoying author Victoria Goddard’s sprawling Nine Worlds fantasy saga, I’ve found this title to be a refreshingly distinctive change of pace for it. In lieu of her typical writing style, the novella is told …
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