books read in 2019

The Eagle Has Landed: 50 Years of Lunar Science Fiction by Neil Clarke My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (4 stars) Publisher: Night Shade (July 2019) A collection of short stories about humans living and working on the Moon is something I won't ever turn down. I actually chose this because some of my favourite science fiction authors are featured in this collection (Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kim Stanley Robinson, Nancy Kress, Ian MacDonald & Gregory Benford) but I also looked forward to all the new to me's…

Cherringham: A Cosy Crime Series Compilation 1-3 by Matthew Costello My rating: 🌟🌟🌟 (3 stars) Publisher: Bastei Entertainment This was just the thing I needed after a disappointing read. A palate cleanser for my brain. These three novella-length stories weren't deep but they were cozy. I'd read more (I've already bought the 4-6 compilation) and they reminded me of Midsomer Murders just with a retired NYPD detective and a small business owner amateur sleuth. Murder on the Thames - Sarah's…

The Dead Girl's Stilettos: A Bexley Squires Mystery by Quinn Avery My rating: 🌟🌟🌟 (3 stars) Publisher: Indie (April 2019) The stilettos of the title are gold with diamond heels and are the main clue that Bex Squires has to solve the case and exonerate the man who's hired her, Dean Halliwell. She's still got a bit of name recognition from her last investigative report that garnered her national attention but her funds are running low when she gets a call to help mega-star Dean in her tony…

The Stranger Inside by Laura Benedict My rating: 🌟🌟 (2 stars) Publisher: Mullholland Books "I was there. I saw what you did." Am I the only person who heard Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight? The summary was so full of promise but this quickly devolved into a complete disappointment. When I'm 30 pages in and have already identified some glaring holes in the plot, it doesn't bode well. For example, the police don't ask Lance, the supposed six month lodger, why the locks to the house have…

Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates My rating: 🌟🌟🌟 (3 stars) Publisher: Ecco It was thoroughly miserable existing in this hellscape with Adriane/Mary Ellen. While reading I wondered if this was satire or just a commentary on the insistence people have to backward look and lament that things used to be so great in some old halcyon day. When the truth of the matter is that it was only great for a powerful privileged group. This is true in Adriane's totalitarian NAS23 (that's the…

The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (4 stars) Publisher: Tor Books As middle installments go, this was better than many I've read. My complaint? It was too short and just when something huge happens and my anticipation was ratcheted up, it was over. As before, Kiva Lagos shone bright and while she is one of my favourites, I wanted more of Cardenia/Grayland (because she's my top favourite). The politics and palace intrigues were once again well done and came together…

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor My rating: 🌟🌟 (2 stars) Publisher: Tor I'm going to be an outlier to book world here but no apologies. Having languished on my TBR for far too long, I've finally joined the masses and read this much acclaimed story! Binti and the world she inhabits were interesting enough but this didn't thrill me or make me feel like I was reading something, unlike anything I've ever read before. The themes presented are worthy but the execution is so flat, it does them a…

Multi genre book reviews & the occasional mention of things done with yarn.

The Riverboat Mystery by Faith Martin My rating: 🌟🌟🌟 (3 stars) Publisher: Joffee Books Jenny's off cooking for a small group cruising in a riverboat steamer. This is her summer break and as her luck goes, she has landed in a nest of prickly people with resentments to one of the parties in particular and of course before too long, there's a dead body in her galley pantry. This one was a bit different in tone from the preceding books in that it felt slower. There are fourteen chapters and…

Above the Ether: A Novel by Eric Barnes My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(4 stars) Publisher: Arcade (June 2019) To say that I'm a climate fiction fan never sounds quite right to me because they're usually disastrous human extinction events that completely untether modern civilizations and I find them fairly terrifying, but I am drawn to them. So when I saw this, I knew I needed to read it. I have to admit that it was actually hard to read quickly because it was so vivid even though the prose was stark…

The Social Affair by Britney King My rating: 🌟🌟 (2 stars) Publisher: CreateSpace Independent When you tell friends you're a fan of psychological thrillers and they gift books, you have to read them. This had some good elements that piqued my interest but there were also some problem areas that left me unsatisfied by the book's end. The social media take was an interesting one as a cautionary tale for two types of users. I'm neither type and thought both Josie and Izzy foolish in their…

The Ridge by John Rector My rating: 🌟🌟🌟 (3 stars) Publisher: Thomas & Mercer This was just okay for a good amount of the book but in the final chapters it kicked up to a book I can say I liked. I had this in my ebook pile for a long time and I picked it up thinking it was a mystery. It's more a hybrid mystery/speculative fiction story. I was completely fine with that because I'm a fan of both. But there were some problems and because of those, a huge dose of predictability. In the first…

Coq au Vin by Charlotte Carter My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (4 stars) Publisher: Open Road Media Mystery Thriller I was in the mood for a cozy-ish mystery and have had this in my ebook pile for a while so decided to give it a go. It's the second in a trilogy but I didn't feel lost and Nanette's voice is strong and funny and wrapped me up in her story. Her beloved and estranged Aunt Viv finally makes cryptic contact with the family from Paris and is in need of help. Nanette, being fluent in French and…

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (4 stars) Publisher: Tor Books This may be the best set up a series book I've ever read. It was pithy, witty and I read 85% of it during Superbowl Sunday (mostly during the game), so an insanely swift read. That it's heavier on dialogue than exposition helped to that end but that's not to say that the world-building much lacked. Were the characters terribly deep? No, but there's enough for them to well service this story and I was able…

Looker by Laura Sims My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (4 stars) Publisher: Scribner Well, this was a sad journey into a broken and ever more unstable woman. I'm a fan of the character study and this began as a very compelling read. At the outset, the unnamed narrator is on the cusp of divorce from her husband after their relationship devolved over years, in part due to their journey through infertility. She's understandably depressed but it's not long before it's clear she has spent too long on her own…

Murder at Hawthorn Cottage by Betty Rowlands My rating: 🌟🌟🌟 (3 stars) Publisher: Bookouture Author Melissa Craig thought her move from chaotic London to the Cotswolds would be idyllic and full of bucolic charm. Unfortunately, she's found a hamlet with linked murders and some crazy seedy dealings going on and before she knows it, her new novel ideas are all too like life and if she can't solve the mysteries it won't just be the end of her novel, it'll be the end of her life. As cozy…