The Trespasser by Tana French I think this is the best and strongest book in the entire excellent Dublin Murder Squad series, and the worst thing I can say about it is that I’m sad it’s over. Conway and Moran are the main characters in this, though this time Conway’s the point of view character. …
Oct 11
Book Review: Bad Witch Burning
Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis It’s become harder for me to enjoy urban fantasy since I started writing it, so I was delighted by this well-crafted YA book about a girl who can speak to the dead. The way her magic works–she writes a letter and the spirit appears–felt fresh and creative. Trell has …
Oct 05
Book Review: Princess Academy
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale My kid said this was good, and assured me it wasn’t anything as cutesey as the Princess Diaries. It is a coming of age novel involving girls in a somewhat fantasy/middle-ages world, but it doesn’t feel like it’s in McFantasyland the way I’d feared, even though the premise sounds pretty …
Sep 20
Book Review: The Secret Place
The Secret Place by Tana French I think that this is the weakest of Tana French’s books I’ve listened to so far. That said, it’s still an amazing book with depth and nuance far beyond what the police procedural murder mystery genre requires. Holly Mackey, who was a child in the previous book Faithful Place, …
Sep 19
Book Review: The Hidden Half of Nature
The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health by David R. Montgomery This book starts talking about gardening, segues to talking about microbiology, and finishes by talking about gardening. It’s basically about the microbial world and how it impacts us. Most of this is information I’ve read about in other books, …