Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Each November, my book club reads indigenous fiction or history. This month, we chose to read this book. It was an excellent choice.

Daunis is an eighteen-year-old Chippewa living near the Ojibwe reservation in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. She feels like she doesn’t fit in either the while world or the native world despite belonging to both. She used to play on the high school hockey team and her half-brother is the captain of the local club team. When handsome newcomer Jamie joins the team and befriends her brother, he asks her to be his ambassador. As she gets closer to Jamie she finds out more than she expected and her world turns upside down.

This is a wonderful coming-of-age novel that explores all the feelings and issues without getting too sappy and deals with them realistically. I loved how immersed it is in Ojibwe culture and language. And it is so well-written. Hard to believe it is a debut novel!

My rating: 5/5

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

My book club selected this book as our read in October for horror/fantasy.

It is the story of a young girl (January) who struggles to be good in the eyes of her guardian while her father is out gathering objects for him. She finds a book that tells the story of a woman told by her husband. It tells of doorways to other worlds. January longs to find such doors through which she can escape.

I found the writing in this book beautiful without getting in the way of the storytelling. It was easy to read and touched on topics that mean a lot to me: feminism, misogyny, and self-determination. Highly recommended.

My rating: 4/5

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan

This was another thriller that my partner and I listened to on a recent road trip. We didn’t quite finish it by the time we got home. I finished it on my way to work the next day.

Lydia Smith works at a bookstore. Late one night at closing, I regular is discovered having hanged himself in the store. Lydia was close to this patron and finds that his effects have been left to her. In her effort to understand why she begins to uncover things in her past that she thought she left behind.

This was both a thriller and an exploration of relationships and dealing with the past. Better than most but nothing spectacular. A solid choice for a road trip.

My rating: 3/5

When These Mountains Burn by David Joy

My library book club members all read different books for each meeting. For our last meeting, the prompt was to read a book by a North Carolina author. Having read and enjoyed a previous novel by David Joy, I selected this audiobook for a recent road trip.

Raymond Mathis gets a call from a drug dealer. He says that unless he pays his son’s debt, he will kill him. He reluctantly bails his son out, warning the dealer to never sell to his son again. After his son relapses, Ray goes after the operation that poisoned his son.

What I loved most about this novel is that it takes place where I live. Once seen included a location I drive through every day. The author also does an amazing job of capturing the people and nature of the mountains of western North Carolina. Despite the depressing subject matter of this book, I thoroughly enjoyed how the community worked to overcome its own issues.

My rating: 4/5

Jaws by Peter Benchley

This being the 50th anniversary of the release of the movie, I have been hearing a lot of coverage about its making. This led me to want to read the book to see what all the fuss was about in the first place.

The plot of the novel is fairly similar to that of the movie. There are naturally other plot lines in the book that didn’t make it to the movie. These include the mayor of the town getting into trouble with local organized crime and the sheriff’s wife having an affair. The ending it also a bit different.

While I enjoyed this novel, I don’t really see what all the fuss was about. Perhaps it was one of those books that was a product of its time. It still holds up as a good novel, but I don’t think it would be the hit it was then if it was released today. This is the rare case where the movie was better than the book.

My rating: 3/5

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

My book club reads classics in September. We unanimously selected this one this year. One of our members had already read it and really enjoyed. It was just okay for me.

Rebecca is the dead wife of Maxim DeWinter. The narrator meets him in Monte Carlo and they are soon married. They return to Max’s home in England. This home is almost a character in the house. The home revolved around the previous Mrs. DeWinter and her presence is still felt. The narrator feels smothered by her until a revelation halfway through the book changes the entire perspective of the novel.

There is a really creepy, closed in feeling in this book. It almost feels like a haunted house book but it isn’t. The writing is excellent but I quickly found the narrator naive and irritating. Still, the story is unique and well-told.

My rating: 3/5

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

If it weren’t for my Theme Team book club at my local library, I would likely never have even known about this book, let alone read it. For each of our bi-monthly meetings, we each read a different book on the same topic. For our September meeting, the theme was mystery. At the end of our July meeting one of our members mentioned this book to me because the author is the singer/songwriter for the smash hit “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)“. She went on to tell me the premise of the book. It sounded kind of absurd but fun, so I decided to read it.

The plot revolves around Cliff Iverson, an aircraft designer whose boss has changed his design on the latest aircraft, set to make or break the company. Unfortunately, his boss is conniving, controlling, selfish jerk who knows nothing of aircraft design. While the change will save money, it will also create a catastrophic failure at some future date, likely killing hundreds of passengers. When Cliff and two others confront their boss, he ignores them. Worse, one he forcibly retires without benefits by framing him for industrial espionage. Another is driven to suicide. Finally, Cliff has had enough and attempts to murder his boss. It doesn’t go well, but Cliff finds himself at a school that trains would be murderers on how to do it right.

This tongue-in-cheek tale of murder is so fun! I almost feel horrible writing that, but it is. The school attempts to have some morals behind murder by requiring it be done right and only to those who deserve it. In fact they have four rules that must be followed. Once at the school and after, the story follows Cliff and two other students and their “theses” (planned murders). These are incredibly complex and clever. However, they are rather easy to follow without being obvious. In fact, some of the things done aren’t clear when they happen until suddenly I found myself thinking, “Oh, that’s why they did that!” This is not a traditional mystery with a murder that you slowly learn who did it. Rather, you see murder from the other side and slowly learn how they plan to execute said murder. It is a funny, absurd joy ride of a novel that I recommend to any mystery fan.

My rating: 4/5

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Time for another book club read. This month the theme was mystery or thriller. We selected this book to read. I originally had it on my list to read when I heard the author on Adam Grant’s podcast ReThinking. The title of the episode from 2023 was “The psychology of fiction with Jennifer Lynn Barnes“.

The plot surrounds an orphaned teenager named Avery Grambs. Her troubled life is suddenly interrupted by the surprising news that she is the inheritor of the recently deceased billionaire Tobias Hawthorne. Odd. She had no idea why. In any case, she has to live in Hawthorne House for one year to get the money. Of course, none of the family want her there, even Hawthorne’s four grandsons, all around her age. A puzzle lover, naturally Avery sets out to uncover why this all is happening.

While this technically a YA novel, I expected more from it. The plot felt rather simplistic and the mysteries uncovered rather easily. And some of the revelations tying it together didn’t quite work for me. They feel contrived to make the story work. So, while I enjoyed the book enough to finish it, I don’t expect to read its sequels.

My rating: 3/5

Uncanny Magazine Issue #65, July/August 2025

Once again I am reviewing the stories in the latest issue of a magazine I subscribe to. All stories are available to read online for free by clicking on the story title. If you like what you read from a particular magazine, I highly encourage you to subscribe. It is very inexpensive and helps support short speculative fiction writers and publications.

“The Diner at the Intersection of Duty and Despair” by John Chu (7,422 words) — Two chosen one participants work to save a bridge that holds worlds together. Oh, and they have a prior relationship, too. (My rating: 3/5)

“When He Calls Your Name” by Catherynne M. Valente (10,219 words) — A woman’s husband is drawn away by a beauty who is not all that she seems to be. Let’s just say that fans of Dolly Parton will especially appreciate this supernatural exploration of power, relationships, and cheating. (My rating: 5/5)

“Finer than Silk, Brighter than Snow” by Shveta Thakrar (2,385 words) — A laundress learns ancient tales from a snake who turns out to be a demon. A straightforward fairy tale about the value of story. (My rating: 3/5)

“The Garden” by Emma Törzs (5,096 words) — A god or undead person trapped in the city due to running water in the canals watches her neighbor water her garden during a drought. A little flat. I felt like it could have said more. (My rating: 3/5)

“Whalesong” by Daniel H. Wilson (7,038 words) — A mother and son confront each other on a research trip to observe the Great Convergence of whales. A touching story of how a mother and son can misunderstand each other their whole lives. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Terrarium” by Jordan Taylor (3,995 words) — An heir to a lord who is in love with another young man let’s loose fairy moths. A heartbreaking story of learning to deal with change. (My rating:4/5)

“The Best Way to Survive a Tiger Attack” by A.W. Prihandita (1,495 words) — A young girl who was mentally abused by her nanny who she sees as a tiger, does her best to behave. Explores the mixed up emotions that arise in such situations. (My rating: 3/5)

Average rating per story: 3.71

Missed One!

I missed one story from my review yesterday of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, July/August 2025. It was the last, and in my opinion, the best story in the issue. It was also the longest as the only novella. That story is…

“The Chronolithographer’s Assistant” by Suzanne Palmer (30,507 words) — A young man from a fishing family, terrified of the sea, seeks to become the assistant to an artist in a nearby cottage. A touching coming of age story with a twist. (My rating: 5/5)