This is a book about weeds, but if you’ve studied plants at all, you know that weeds are far more than just those plants that invade our gardens. If they’re not natives, there’s probably a reason they’re there, and those stories can be quite interesting. The author is English, so this is very much about […]
Weeds – Richard Mabey Read More »
This is a book of short stories, several of which are twists on fairy tales. I definitely liked some better than others, but this is Patricia A. McKillip, so they’re all well written. “The Harrowing the Dragon” is an interesting tale of a young man who wants to save the place where he grew up,
Harrowing the Dragon – Patricia A. McKillip Read More »
The Gale family changes the world around them with their magic, but it usually means that they anchor themselves in one place. Charlie Gale isn’t like that – she’s always felt like she should be travelling. So while she knows that her cousin Allie would love for her to stay and help her in their
The Wild Ways – Tanya Huff Read More »
Cathy has fled her abusive family, but there’s a twist- her family lives in the Nether – between the regular world and the world of the Fae, and the families there serve the Fae. Cathy would rather live in the real world, where she won’t have an arranged marriage, and can live her own life.
Between Two Thorns – Emma Newman Read More »
This is technically a reread, but it’s been so long since I first read it, I really couldn’t remember what was going to happen next, other than the bare bones from the Swan Lake ballet this is based on. Swan Lake the ballet is mostly about Princess Odette, who is cursed by an evil sorcerer
The Black Swan – Mercedes Lackey Read More »
In this book, Jane is staying at her brother Edward’s estate in Kent (which he has because he was adopted by a wealthy, childless couple – this is real life detail). While there, they go to the races, where the wife of one of the other local landowners is found dead. Mrs. Grey had not
Jane and the Genius of the Place – Stephanie Barron Read More »
Now that the war is over, Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr and some of her old company, along with a few civilians, are working for the Justice Department. The book opens with them dealing with a humans first movement, but quickly pivots to them being hired for a much more important job. Since the war is
An Ancient Peace – Tanya Huff Read More »
Thursday Next is a literary detective (SO-27). In this alternate universe, the Crimean War is still going on (she’s a veteran), and some stories aren’t what we would expect them to be. (Jane Eyre goes to India with her cousin at the end of her book.) When Charles Dickens’ Martin Chuzzlewit is stolen, Thursday gets
The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde Read More »
This is a book about manufactured materials, framed around a picture of the author drinking tea on his patio in London, with a view of the Shard in the background. It’s a really great way to a frame a book – you get an incredible number of materials out of that picture, from concrete to
Stuff Matters – Mark Miodownik Read More »
The young widow Perle has donated the house where she had lived happily with her husband to the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. She had no need of it – she was also the heiress to one of the foremost weaving families in Shrewsbury, and could live in her family home, away from
The Rose Rent – Ellis Peters Read More »
