City of Stairs by Robert J. Bennett

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book on the recommendations of other authors, so I can't pretend to long anticipation (although I did pre-order it). Imagine my delight when the story hooked me thoroughly by the end of the first chapter. The book comes across like an historical mystery set in a mythical world, and the imagery is vivid without taking over the story's narrative. This makes me want to read other works by Bennett. If you're a fan of Paula Volsky and Roger Zelazny, I urge you read this book.

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Hang Wire by Adam Christopher

Hang Wire by Adam Christopher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was recommended to me by comparing it to a cross between Tim Powers and Erin Morganstern. Well, other than an unorthodox circus being a part of the story I don't see the Erin Morganstern comparison. But the Tim Powers comparison is right on - this book is like Powers-lite. I loved the mystery of whose body Highwire was inhabiting, and not knowing for a while whether he was the killer. The slowly evolving story of Joel, and of "Bob", as well as the contemporary story of the group of friends/co-workers in San Francisco, unfolded gracefully and naturally. A blend of urban fantasy and word mythology, I loved this book and would highly recommend it to any of my circle of reading enthusiasts.

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The Color of Light

The Color of Light by Helen Maryles Shankman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am torn in my opinion of this book. The characters are immensely compelling and the story is a whopper of a tale with multiple climactic events. But there are problems with the writing: certain aspects of the story are downright implausible and transitions between scenes are often confusing. For example, Rafe (the vampire/love interest of the main character) tells multiple people that a single ray of sunlight will turn him into a pile of ashes. But he frequently attends board meetings during daylight hours without any explanation as to how he avoided destruction. The bond formed between the group of students who become Tessa's (the main character) friends is portrayed as extremely tight, but as they part after graduation there is no discussion of keeping in touch and their farewells seem permanent. And of course, the final nail in the coffin is that the female protagonist gives up her dream and the prize she worked so hard for because her guy won't budge and go to Paris with her but does want to take her traveling around the world. These are only a few of the points with which I took exception, there are many more. But overall I loved the characters, enjoyed the setting and the story, and especially appreciated what I learned about art during the reading of this book.

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The Drowning Girl

The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the most difficult book for me to read maybe ever. So much of the book could have been me in spirit: I had an Abalyn and an Eva in my life. I am mermaid-obsessed. I have struggled with depression and have had crisis events and periods in which my inner dialog, my perception of the world, and my struggle to distinguish fact from truth were much like Imp's. Reading this book was like visiting, as a tourist, a place where I was once held captive. Not only is the writing brilliant, but Caitlin Kiernan is an incredibly brave author to have written this book and I salute her with both hands. I don't think I could record those periods in my life with as much articulate and beautiful prose as she has done here.

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Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I admit, the title alone led me to buy this book. I had just finished reading a book that had me very emotionally invested and I expected this to be a light little romp that I could read as a kind of rebound book and enjoy for what it was worth then forget.

Man, was I wrong! Maybe its because I know San Francisco and have enjoyed time browsing obscure used-book shops in the Bay area. Maybe it was my adolescent fixation with epic fantasy. Or because I have friends and family among the techie crowd. Or that I can't resist an antiquated secret society. Whatever the alchemical combination, this book was a rare and unforseen treat to read.

As always, I refrain from spoilers or too much description. But if my recommendations have worked for you in the past, you will love this one!

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Baby got Books!

(sung to the tune of Baby Got Back)

I like big books and I cannot lie,
You other readers can’t deny
When the story opens up and sweeps me away
And I'm reading for the rest of the day
I get hooked!
Wanna devour the rest of that book!
Then you notice it's the first of a series.
Deep in the arc of the story,
Twists and turns to glory.
Oh baby, just one more chapter
That’s all I’m after!
My book club tried to warn me
And now I’m caught up in the story!
Ooh, hard or paperback
You say e-books are a sin?
Well amuse me, confuse me
I ain’t your average groupie!
Fantasy or sci-fi, oh
Historical or bio
Challenge my brain, it’s no strain!
TV pulls me down the drain!
I’m tired of blogs and sites
Saying reading is a dead art
Take a person with a brain and inquire
It’s gotta build a world and inspire!
So readers! Readers!
Has your story got the punch? (Hell yeah!)
Then read it, read it, read that epic book!
Baby got books!

2013 Reading List

These are the books I read for the first time in 2013. The list doesn't include novellas, short stories, compilations or re-reads.  One or two were forgettable and I had to look up the descriptions to recall having read them, but for the most part I chose well and listened to recommendations from the right people.

Atticus for the Undead	John Abramowitz
Throne of the Crescent Moon	Saladin Ahmed
The Shining Girls	Lauren Beukes
The Woken Gods	Gwenda Bond
This Case is Gonna Kill Me	Philippa Bornikova
Existence	David Brin
Dreams and Shadows	C. Robert Cargill
Revealed	P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Pirate Cinema	Cory Doctorow
The Ocean at the End of the Lane	Neil Gaiman
Odd and the Frost Giants	Neil Gaiman
Witchling	Yasmine Galenorn
Girl Unwrapped	Gabriella Goliger
Hild	Nicola Griffith
Affliction	Laurell K. Hamilton
Dead Ever After	Charlaine Harris
Hounded	Kevin Hearne
Hexed	Kevin Hearne
Hammered	Kevin Hearne
Tricked	Kevin Hearne
Trapped	Kevin Hearne
Bluedawn	Brighton Hill
NOS4A2	Joe Hill
Heart-Shaped Box	Joe Hill
Libriomancer	Jim C. Hines
Codex Born	Jim C. Hines
Shift	Hugh Howey
Southern Gods	John Horner Jacobs
Sappho’s Leap	Erica Jong
Doctor Sleep	Stephen King
Swordspoint	Ellen Kushner
The Privilege of the Sword	Ellen Kushner
Thomas the Rhymer	Ellen Kushner
A Wrinkle in Time	Madeleine L’Engle
Kiss of the Butterfly	James Lyon
Beyond Black	Hilary Mantel
Lamb	Christopher Moore
The Taken	Vicki Pettersson
The Hangman’s Daughter	Oliver Potzsch
Fireflies	Lacey Reah
Divergent	Veronica Roth
Insurgent	Veronica Roth
Allegiant	Veronica Roth
Attic Clowns	Jeremy Shipp
Tinker	Wen Spencer
Wolf Who Rules	Wen Spencer
Elfhome	Wen Spencer
Palimpsest	Catherynne Valente
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a   Ship of Her Own Making	Catherynne Valente
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There	Catherynne Valente
Mechanique	Genevieve Valentine
How to Discipline Your Vampire	Mina Vaughn
The Book of Blood and Shadow	Robin Wasserman
The Golem and the Jinni	Helene Wecker
Under the Empyrean Sky	Chuck Wendig

Hild by Nicola Griffiths

Hild by Nicola Griffith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars






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I'm a closet lover of historical fiction. Closet because I'm so picky - it has to be good, well researched and authentic. It also has to come alive and wrap me up in the story and the characters, blanket me in a sense of being there. Not many authors live up to those criteria, but Nicola Griffith does it beautifully. You can see a synopsis of any book online, but you have to rely on fellow readers to tell you whether it tastes good. This book is delicious.

Book Review - Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck Wendig

Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck Wendig

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'm a sucker for a dystopian future tale, I must admit.

I had followed Chuck Wendig on Twitter for several months and tremendously enjoyed the interactive nature of his blog, terribleminds.com but I was oddly hesitant about reading his work.  After all, I had already formed an opinion of this guy based on his online writing and what if I didn't like his work?  It's happened before with authors I "met" outside of their published works.  I needn't have worried.  Under the Empyrean Sky was a terrific read.  The characters he created were easy to relate to and engaged in credible dialog. Most importantly he draws you into his created world a bit at a time, enough to allow a sense of that world to emerge in increments rather than throwing too much at you at once, leaving you to figure out what you're looking at.  At no point did the writing take me out of the story, it flowed as the best of stories do, and I can't wait for the sequel because now I have to know what happens next!



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One of this year’s most anticipated books is Inferno by Dan Brown, once again taking us into the world of Robert Langdon (The Da Vinci Code, among others) and the secret symbolism contained in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, a portion of his epic poem The Divine Comedy, telling of one soul’s tortured journey through hell, purgatory, and finally paradise guided by the poet Virgil.  I haven’t yet read Dan Brown’s latest, but for those interested in fiction centering on Dante’s master work, I recommend The Dante Club by Daniel Pearl.

The Divine Comedy was first translated into English in the late 1800s by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow while serving on the faculty of Harvard University.  The Dante Club is a fictionalized mystery centering on Longfellow and his real-life colleagues – Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes (father of the great jurist), poet James Russell Lowell and publisher J.T. Fields – who are assisting with proofreading and critiquing his translation process.  Like academics throughout the ages, they’re up against administrative bureaucrats who want to dictate the curriculum of the university and are performing the translation as a labor of love.

When a series of odd deaths begin occurring in the Boston/Cambridge area, the four friends slowly begin to realize that the deaths are punishments portrayed in the Inferno, retribution for particular sins that the 19^th century American victims seem to have been guilty of.  Set against a backdrop of an America rebuilding after the recent Civil War and a Massachusetts adapting to the influx of both immigrants and former slaves, the story not only brings aspects of Dante’s work to life but also provides a glimpse into the growing pains of a great American metropolitan area.

The story is captivating, well researched, and highly recommended.

Tomorrow a book I've been waiting for is released:  NOS4A2 by Joe Hill.  In honor of that book, I'm going to review another of his works, Heart-Shaped Box.

It's no secret that I love a well-told horror story.  And this one is told extremely well.  An aging rocker, along the lines of an Alice Cooper or Ozzy Osborne, adds to his collection of macabre memorabilia by buying a ghost in an online auction.  The story starts simply, but the artistry in this book is the way the story, and the characters' back stories, unfold like a multi-tiered flower.

Just when you begin to think you don't really like Judas Coyne, the protagonist, you realize there's more to him than his impatience and gruff exterior.  The ghost, while at first seeming to be on a righteous revenge mission, never becomes a sympathetic character.  Jude's girlfriend, annoying in the beginning, becomes his partner in salvation.  Telling you much more would give away too much of the plot, and I encourage you to let it unfold for you.

A book this good doesn't come along very often.  And a man with this much talent for writing doesn't either.  Take my advice - read this book.  While Joe Hill comes from a talented gene pool, his voice is his own and I can't wait to read the new book.

Kushiel's Justice by Jacqueline Carey

From the first few chapters of "Kushiel's Dart" I discovered that Jacqueline Carey has a gift for creating characters that are real, human and yet gifted in various ways beyond our reality. The world she has created, with its roots in our world yet somehow MORE, has taken on a character of its own with its beautiful D'Angelines, actively involved deities and demigods, varied landscapes and surprising treasures is a place I certainly wouldn't mind living. And with this fifth installment, Imriel has truly grown into a complex adult who is willing to take responsibility for his own actions and failures yet also ready to stand up to his queen for the love of the woman he adores. I can't wait for the next installment!

The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton

I'll be uncharacteristically brief: this was the best Anita Blake book since Burnt Offerings - the return of Edward (and yes, Olaf as well) was worth the wait and I savored every little detail. I especially, surprisingly, enjoyed the scene between Raoul and Anita. I have one tiny little nit to pick: When Sylvie visits Anita in the hospital and says she doesn't do women. I think that line may have been intended for Claudia because I have always cherished Sylvie as the sole preternatural lesbian in Anita's world. Or maybe she should have said she knew Anita didn't do women.