Burning Ring of Fire: The Fatal Flame Review

Blurb for The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye No one in 1840s New York likes fires, copper star Timothy Wilde least of all. After a blaze killed his parents and another left him with a terrible scar, he has avoided flames of all kinds. So when a seamstress turned arsonist threatens Robert Symmes, a corrupt… Continue reading Burning Ring of Fire: The Fatal Flame Review

5 Books With “Green” in Their Titles

It’s a shameless shtick, I know, to make a post about green on St. Patrick’s Day. However, I’ve thought about making posts about books with colours in their titles for a long time, so I might as well take advantage of the coincident events to start with books I’ve read with the colour “green” in… Continue reading 5 Books With “Green” in Their Titles

Titles on Trend: Wives & Daughters, Pt. 2

Finally, the long-awaited conclusion to this two-part series of Titles on Trend: the “daughters” portion of “Wives & Daughters.” If you didn't catch the first part, the "wives," check it out here. I easily compiled a list of books following the same pattern of “The [insert occupation of choice here]’s Daughter” without even fudging the… Continue reading Titles on Trend: Wives & Daughters, Pt. 2

Titles on Trend: Wives & Daughters, Pt. 1

So, a couple years ago I came across a thread expressing outrage about a headline for an article that was about a collaborative art exhibition. The headline in question, rather than including the names of the artists, identified the two women by their respective husband and father, who just happened to both be somewhat famous… Continue reading Titles on Trend: Wives & Daughters, Pt. 1

Loathing at First Sight: The Last Celestials ARC Review

Book Summary of The Last Celestials by Becca Mionis A defeated general. A jaded princess. A really awkward situation. Orion and Cassiopeia are the last of their kind: an ancient, powerful race of space-dwelling beings known as Celestials. After losing a terrible war against another, deadlier race, Orion appeals to Cassiopeia, hoping she’ll help him… Continue reading Loathing at First Sight: The Last Celestials ARC Review

The Twelfth Day of Christmas: The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

The opening line sets the tone for The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti: “When Loo was twelve years old, her father taught her how to shoot a gun.” The scene following sets up a lot of the critical threads that emerge throughout the novel: the guns, the relationship between Loo and her… Continue reading The Twelfth Day of Christmas: The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

The Eleventh Day of Christmas: Trickster Drift & Return of the Trickster

When I read the first book of this trilogy, Son of a Trickster, by Eden Robinson with its snarky voicing and wacky scenarios, I really enjoyed it. The mysticism of the Native trickster Wee’git (who is also literally a “wee git”) is the starting point for a well-built urban fantasy story. Although the excessive substance… Continue reading The Eleventh Day of Christmas: Trickster Drift & Return of the Trickster

The Tenth Day of Christmas: Notes from Underground

Even then I already carried the underground in my soul.Notes from Underground I don’t really know what to say about Notes from Underground. I’ve read it twice now. It was my first taste of the great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky and it made me want to read more by him. Although it is in translation,… Continue reading The Tenth Day of Christmas: Notes from Underground

The Ninth Day of Christmas: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

After writing my post about books that follow a particular title trend, I picked up this one from that list. I read The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin over Thanksgiving weekend and it was a nice light read with a charming atmosphere, entertaining and unique characters, implausibly plausible incidents manufacturing drama for… Continue reading The Ninth Day of Christmas: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

The Eighth Day of Christmas: The Mortal Word & The Secret Chapter

I came into the Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman and was really favourably impressed with the first few books. The concept of an extra-dimensional library maintaining tenuous balance on alternate worlds affected by the order of the dragons and the chaos of the fae is chock full of potential, and it really delivers at… Continue reading The Eighth Day of Christmas: The Mortal Word & The Secret Chapter