Wayward Bookshelf

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett This was more or less exactly what I'd hoped for from book 3 in this series! Emily continues to try and tackle problems using her scholarship and study, Wendell continues to be both fearsome and endearing by turns, and the majority of this book actually takes place in Faerie.  My only real complaint is that while I really appreciate how much our two have grown to trust each other to be competent in their own strengths, and it is very sweet to see them so in love, I did miss some of the bickering and banter that we saw in the first two books. I would have liked to have more of that, perhaps with a more playful or teasing tone as their relationship matured. I really enjoyed the nature of the problem that they were trying to solve, the stakes felt a little higher, and the application of storytelling and fairy tales applied to searching for a solution was excellent. And I especially liked spending more time getting to know...

The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker If you haven't already read The Golem and the Jinni, know that while this review will contain no spoilers from the Hidden Palace, events that happened in the first book may be mentioned. The Hidden Palace picks up pretty much right where the Golem and the Jinni left off, with Chava the baker & Ahmad the metalsmith going for walks each night and continuing to learn how to live as mythical creatures disguised as humans in early 1900's New York. We also follow Sophia Winston as she travels to the east to try and find a cure for the damage the Jinni's flame did to her. We check in on Anna and Toby as they recover from the encounter with Sulayman. And of course we meet a few new characters who play a part in this new tale. The story wanders and meanders as time passes, and the writing and pacing was such a pleasure to read. Plot-wise it also wanders as this book spans several years. I liked that I couldn't always tell where we were go...

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin This book felt much sweeter and personal than I expected going in. The description had me expecting a lot of 'you must figure out your magic to save the world or else' energy, and while there is a bit of that, the bulk of the focus is on Clara's growth and understanding of herself and her relationships. And it really works for the story, because in order to figure out her magic, she needs to figure herself out first. I really enjoy good characters and growth arcs, so alongside the fun nature magic, this storytelling really worked for me. I love seeing how authors approach magic systems, and I thought the seasonal magic was a pretty fun concept. Each witch has a season in which their magic is strongest, and then it wanes the rest of the year, except for Clara who is a very rare Everwitch, so she has full-powered magic all year. This causes her to feel both pressure and isolation. (Good crucibles for our character development!) And ...

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson Major Pettigrew is a retired military man, a creature of habit and principle who lives in the small English village of Edgecombe St. Mary. He's opinionated with a dry sense of humor, and manages to be a lovable old curmudgeon and an unlikely hero. After the death of his brother, he finds himself in some uncertain territory with family, and befriends Mrs. Jasmina Ali (widowed), a Pakistani shopkeeper in the village. Their friendship sparks some talk and tension from both of their families, as well as some wonderful discussions about life and literature. I enjoyed dropping into the life of a small English village for a time, and appreciated the care Simonson took in writing a group of people who are in equal turns caring and bothersome, getting into each other's business and at the same time showing up for each other when needed. It is English comedy done well, playing with manners and elegance in a sort of wry way. This boo...

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid This book is really well done. It deals with tough issues of racial inequality, ignorance of that inequality, and how that has big effects on individual lives, while being a great fictional read. The characters are excellent, some are terribly flawed, but still manage to be relatable enough that you don't forget they're human. They're complex, the way that real people are. It reminds us that good people can do bad things, insensitive things, hurtful things while thinking they're doing the right thing. It reminds us that interpersional situations are multi-faceted, intersectional and complicated. Emira and Bri definitely take the spotlight. They are both fantastic, Bri is a 3 year old who says exactly the thing that is on her mind. Emira is her 25-year-old baby-sitter who gives her room to interact with the world, pays attention to her thoughts and questions and loves her for exactly who she is. Their relationship is just beautiful. Em...

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides In reading this book, I took a step out of the fantasy genre for a minute, and entered into the realm of realistic fiction. I found Cal to be a multi-faceted, relatable character, and was very interested in how the story unfolded. I appreciated the author's use of his personal experiences of using a Greek family, and the setting the story in Detroit. These both were painted very vividly and gave the story some real shape and texture for Cal to emerge from. And some of my favorite parts were the glimpses into Cal's current life, and seeing how the experiences of his youth both shaped and paralleled what he was experiencing as an adult was a great storytelling device. Parts were unexpectedly funny, others were unexpectedly sad or upsetting, and because of this the book felt like a truly human story. We are not all good, bad, happy or sad, but a mix. And our main character's ability to stay authentic to himself while continuing to s...

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson Such a weird, moody, creepy (but still good!) book. Merricat Blackwood and her sister Constance live in their large family estate along with their invalid Uncle Julian. From the start the reader sees that Merricat has a very distinct voice, a unique perspective on the world, and a strong belief in her own power over it. For example, the book begins with: “My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all, I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in our family is dead.” The sisters are mostly withdrawn from & unbothered by the world. Except of course on the...