Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore

This book is the sequel to A Dirty Job by the same author. I enjoyed the first book in the series so much that I picked this one up right after. It was as much fun as the first.

The story picks up where the previous novel left off. The plot is actually very similar. Once again, it seems that the powers of darkness are trying to rise and take over. But this time, things don’t land solely on the shoulders of Charlie. Instead, this turns into much more of a team effort that in many ways is more satisfying than the lone savior feel of the first novel.

Once again, there is a high level of snark and sarcasm. This is combined with deeper looks into the relationships between the characters. And despite how opposite those things seem, the story holds it all together while propelling you through the adventure. Once again, a real hoot of a story. I can only hope there will be a third in the series.

My rating: 4/5

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

I learned of this book from an old friend of my partner. We went to his condo a few months ago to get together with some friends in the city that we last moved away from. He is a reader like me and showed me his bookshelves. This was one of his favorite books, and he recommended it to me. It sounded interesting so I added it to my list of books to read.

It is the first book of a two-part series called Grim Reaper. The story starts with Charlie Asher attending to his wife as she gives birth to their first child. Something very strange happens immediately after the birth and people start dying around him. Then he starts hearing voices in the sewers and starts to feel like he must have become Death himself. Things get more complicated, dangerous, and weird from there.

This is a very clever, quirky, and funny book. With its tongue in cheek tone and humor, it reminded me many times of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams or Redshirts by John Scalzi. It is also a heck of a ride. All kinds of funny and crazy things happen. There is mythology and a little social commentary. It has a little of everything if you like your adventure dark and funny. Look elsewhere for your literary novel. This one is just plain fun.

My rating: 4/5

Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis by Dave Maass and Patrick Lay

My next read was one I found on Cory Doctorow’s blog. It is a graphic novel based on an opera whose authors were first part of a Nazi show piece ghetto in Prague who both later were murdered in a concentration camp. This novel is the expression of people going through the worst a human can experience. It is amazing.

The story takes place in an Atlantis that never sank. In it, Death goes on strike after becoming sick of the violence and hatred among humans at the behest of the emperor. But this means that people can no longer die, leading them to even question why they are fighting. It sounds maudlin as I write that, but the art and dialog really bring it to life.

I had a hard time getting into the book at first. I considered putting it aside a few times early on. It was feeling kind of common and uninteresting to me. But as my curiosity drove me to continue, the story came together in a way that really touched me. It is ultimately a story of the triumph over death and the evil in the world, even when those obstacles seem insurmountable. It is a triumph of the human spirit.

My rating: 4/5

In Ascension by Martin MacInnes

I have been a subscriber and reader of Locus Magazine for over a year now. It is the monthly magazine of science fiction, fantasy, and horror and includes numerous book reviews in each issue. The February issue included various reviewers’ best of 2023 books. One such favorite was this book. The book was also longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2023. The premise sounded interesting, so I gave it a go.

The review that interested me in this book states in part that “it serves as a technical demonstration of how to continue asking big science-fictional questions while starting from the world as it is, rather than as we’d like it to be.” The book is told in the first person and starts with a rather lengthy description of the main character’s childhood and eventual decision to study marine biology. She eventually gets the opportunity to go on a scientific expedition to a place in the mid-Atlantic where there is a trench much deeper than ever measured in the Atlantic before. Odd things start happening that begin to move the plot forward at a less slow pace.

This book is well-written and filled with thoughtful ideas. At times it reminded me of thoughtful science fiction books like Contact and 2001: A Space Odyssey. And while I enjoined both of those books and movies, I found this book to be way too much prose and not engaging enough with the story. Even the ideas are barely hinted at. I enjoyed the contemplation of the ideas raised in this book, but it was as much an exploration of childhood trauma and its affects on the main character’s future. Sometimes it felt that was the main point of the book rather than exploring the science fictional elements of the story. That may be what others want in their literary science fiction, but not me. Give me Rendezvous with Rama any day over this dry, almost pretentious, over literary book.

My rating: 2.5/5

The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein

I am a big fan of Cory Doctorow and regularly read his blog. There, he occasionally posts a review of a book that he’s loved reading recently. Back in May he posted a review of this book. His praise was high enough that I went right out and bought this book. I just finished it and wow!.

Doctorow does not give any plot summary. In fact, he says pretty much nothing about the story. He says that it is hard to peg to a single genre and it was recently republished by the author when the rights reverted back to her. If I had to put a genre label on it, I would call it fantasy, but that is only at the first layer. I will also give a very short plot summary. A steerswoman is researching the source of a mysterious gem that seems to be magical. That’s about all I can say without spoiling the mystery at the heart of this book that makes it so interesting.

The writing is thoughtful and engaging. I felt that I was right there along with the main characters engaged in the mystery and adventure. It is a book that explores ideas like one’s place in the world, integrity, the power and strength of truth, and coming together as a team. It is the kind of book that I find myself enjoying even more after having read it and thinking about it afterword. I’m looking forward to reading the sequel. In fact, I am off now to go buy and download the rest of the series!

My rating: 4.5/5

Funny Story by Emily Henry

After I finished reading Run by Blake Crouch, I needed a bit of a palette cleanser. That was a dark book, and I needed something lighter to balance it. I am a fan of Emily Henry and hadn’t read her latest yet, so I picked up and read Funny Story.

In it, a thirty-something woman is engaged to the man of her dreams. She has moved into a house he bought for them in his home town and is enjoying being part of his circle. A few months before their wedding, he decides he is in love with his childhood best friend and breaks off the wedding. Desperate for a place to live in a town far from her own friends and family, she moves in with her ex-fiancé’s ex-boyfriend. At first they keep their distance. Then they devise a plan that may unintentionally bring them closer together.

There wasn’t anything terribly new here. As with all romances, we know how this one will end. It isn’t about the ending, though. It’s about the journey. And the journey here is emotional, funny, and enjoyable. As is my experience with Emily Henry, the characters feel true to life and the plot deals with real human problems with a level of complexity that goes deeper than I would expect for a romance. That said, this is a romance novel. It is a quick read and doesn’t get too deep. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but is wasn’t as good as some of her other stuff I’ve read.

My rating: 3.5/5

Run by Blake Crouch

I recently watched on Apple TV+ the new series Dark Matter based on the book of the same name by Blake Crouch. I enjoyed it so much that I went looking to see if he had anything new coming out. I was excited to find on NetGalley, that he has a book coming out in the fall called simply Run. Turns out that this was originally self-published by the author in 2011. It is being published for the first time by Ballantine Books. It’s tentative release date is October 22. I read an advanced reader copy of the ebook provided by NetGalley.

Run is an apocalyptic thriller that takes place in essentially present times. An unexpected and (at first) unexplained pandemic has led many in Jack’s community of Albuquerque, NM to become randomly murderous. TV and radio are down except for the announcement of who those affected will be coming to kill next. When Jack hears his own name on the radio, he swiftly packs his family and camping gear into their SUV and run. The plot follows them as they head north toward Canada, doing their best to avoid those affected in order to stay together and alive.

This is a very dark novel. It is not as well-written as his more recent work, but there are glimpses of what is to come. The challenges and emotions of the family are the strength of this novel. The pace is unrelenting. There are no named chapters and no table of contents. This feels like a purposeful choice to keep you turning the pages. It works. Even the clipped writing, with regular incomplete sentences, feeds the urgency. As I read this book, I was reminded of other apocalyptic novels like The Stand by Stephen King and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Unfortunately, this one does not rise to that level. It is much darker and more grim while not being as well-written. It was an interesting glimpse into Crouch’s early work, but if you are looking for an apocalyptic thriller, I recommend the others I mentioned. If you want to read Blake Crouch, you are better off starting with Dark Matter or Recursion.

My rating: 3/5

Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker

I’ve read a lot of Sarah Pinsker’s fiction. This includes many short stories including “One Man’s Treasure” from last year which was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus awards for best novelette. I also thoroughly enjoyed her two novels, A Song for a New Day and We Are Satellites. Naturally, when I learned that she was soon to publish a new novella, I went looking for it at NetGalley. Many thanks to them for the advance reader copy they provided me in exchange for this unbiased review.

Haunt Sweet Home is the story of a young woman named Mara trying to find her way in the world. Her many attempts to complete college keep flaming out, much to her family’s disappointment. Her cousin is a very successful host of cable TV show that goes by the same name as the title of the book . It follows new home owners as they begin to renovate their homes and discover that they are haunted in some way. When this cousin offers Mara a job as a production assistant on the show she takes it not knowing how it will change her life.

This short book was a mixed bag for me. It is slow to start though entertaining throughout. The meat of the story doesn’t get going until around the mid-point of the story. One result for me was simply wishing that there was more to the story. In some ways, it feels like it ends just as it is getting the most interesting. Also, the main twist in the story has been used many times and was quite easy for me to see coming. But that is redeemed after the reveal as the details are unique and what the entire story is built to explore. Ultimately, this book is about coming of age, growing up, and learning for yourself who you really are. These are some of my favorite books themes. I just wish this novella was as good for me as her novels.

My rating: 3.5/5

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

I never expected to read this book. Sure, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1986, but it’s a western. I’m not a big fan of westerns in TV, movies, or books. I just don’t understand the fascination with a period of time that was so brief and has been overly romanticized. But a member of my book club loves this book. He raved about it many time to our members. So when historical fiction month rolled around in July, our club decided that this is the book that we would read.

The plot centers around two aging former Texas Rangers, Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call. They are the owners of a small business selling horses near the Rio Grande in southern Texas along the border with Mexico. When one of their old compatriots from their rangering days returns and tells them of the beauty of Montana and the money to be made by bringing cattle to that area, Call gets it into his head to round some up and head north. Most of the book surrounds their efforts to round up the cattle and their travels driving those cattle north. There are a lot of other side stories that weave in and out of the main narrative.

The writing in this book is flat out incredible. He does this thing where he is describing the action of the story and turns aside to tell the history of a sign, for example, over the next two or three pages. Then he returns naturally to pick up the story from where he diverged. Sounds like it would be boring and tedious but it works incredibly well. I would get sucked into the side story and completely forget the main line until he returned to it. What a storyteller!

The story is largely about relationships, the main one between Gus and Call. There are also a number of mild romantic lines. But mainly it is about relationships in general, among and between all the characters. Another theme that comes up over and over is timing, and it is a little heavy handed. More than once a character points out that if one decision in the past had gone differently, then they wouldn’t be where they were at that time. All the characters feel like real people with strengths and flaws. Some of them are infuriating. Some are lovable. Most are a combination of both, you know, like people.

I found myself coming back to read this book whenever I could. I always wanted to find out what was happening in the lives of these people. One of my biggest disappointments was the ending. It wasn’t bad or particularly unexpected. It just sort of stopped. There was no sense of conclusion. But then, there isn’t an easily defined conclusion to the episodes of our lives, is there?

One final note, if your copy of this book has a preface by the author for some sort of anniversary edition, do not read it before you read the book. It contains spoilers. Mild ones, but spoilers nonetheless. I read the preface before reading the book, as I normally do. I was very unhappy with the editor. I guess because the book was originally published in 1985, they expected that readers who purchased this book would have already read it. A warning for those who haven’t would have been greatly appreciated.

My rating: 4/5

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker

I listen to a fair number of podcasts. One of these recently centered around a book I had on my TBR list. The title of that episode was “What Makes a Good Gathering?“. I’ve been thinking recently about how to start a local book club, and I thought the ideas in this book might be helpful, so I finally read it.

It is a guidebook for how to gather people. My first thought when I put this on my list to read was that it was about how to host a cocktail party. And it is. But it is also about so much more. Are you in charge of raising money for a small non-profit? This book is for you. Do you hold or attend meetings at work? This book is for you. Do you occasionally have friends over to your house for dinner? This book is for you. And it isn’t about logistics or etiquette. It is about the planning.

Lot’s of people think that planning stifles spontaneity. The author and I disagree. Plans never come off perfectly, but without a plan things often or usually go sideways or in an entirely unexpected direction. In this guide, the author shows how important it is to decide why you are really gathering, to not be a chill host, to never start with logistics or end with thank yous, and to cause controversy (the good kind). It is a short book filled with practical advice that I can’t wait to use the next time I am tasked with hosting a meeting of any kind.

My rating: 4.5/5