The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I got this book free as a Kindle First Read - or whatever they’re calling it nowadays

This book sits at the intersection of a lot of genres and sub-genres. It’s a mystery, but it’s not told from the point of view of the detective. This causes it to share a bit of DNA with the thriller genre as there are a few times our protagonist finds herself in the middle of something big. It’s also got a giant dose of geek/nerd culture with lots of references. Some will be rather easy for most people to get now that geek/nerd culture is a bit more mainstream. Others are pretty deep cuts. There’s also a bit of a romance novel hidden in here. And a dip into LGBT culture as well. So, it’s a book with a little of something for everyone.

The Everyday Athlete Cookbook: 165 Recipes to Boost Energy, Performance, and Recovery by America’s Test Kitchen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

ATK teams up with a dietitian and nutritionist to create a series of recipes for “athletes”, defined in the book as people who do vigorous exercise at least 3 times a week. So far I’ve made the rice crispy protein bars and I love the taste. I usually have one before heading to the gym/pool.

The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is my second time reading this book. Keeping the score of 3/5 stars

Another mystery staring Samuel Vimes. This time he’s been sent by Vetinari to Uberwald as Ambassador. Vetinari purposely chose him because he thinks like a cop and isn’t the usual royalty that gets sent to these things. This turns out to be a good thing because the Dwarves, Vampires, and Wolves are each trying to gain advantage over the other.

Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 108, May 2019 by John Joseph Adams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SCIENCE FICTION
Cocoons (Nancy Kress) - This story could very easily have gone to a horror place. But instead it ends up being about the complexity of humanity, the perils of colonizing a new world, and hope.

This Way to Paradise (Rati Mehrotra) - After a rapture-style event, things go nuts in India. We follow a family in the aftermath. A couple great twists to the story.

I’ll be getting caught up on book reviews, so through the end of the year you’ll see at least one book review per day. I’ll still be occasionally writing my usual blog posts, but the most consistent content will be book reviews.

Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 107, April 2019 by John Joseph Adams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SCIENCE FICTION
The Archronology of Love (Caroline M. Yoachim) - This short story involves an interesting idea where an alien race has created a VR history, but to make an analogy with archeology, when you view part of the history, you mess up that record and if you move around you mess even more up. (Similar to how digging up an archeology site disturbs the very record being observed) The story isn’t just a neat gimmick - it also has a nice little love story that goes along with it.

Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book has a more straight-forward narrative style rather than the more poetic one of the last few stories. Chronologically, it takes place after the events of Beneath the Sugar Sky. Books 4 and 4.5 are prequel novellas.

In addition to completing (maybe?) the story of the Wolcott sisters, McGuire continues to explore the themes they’ve been laying down throughout the series. What does it mean to ask children to “be sure”? How much trauma can children (and teens) take? And other topics like body dysphoria - taken to an extreme here with the main plot point.

Juice Like Wounds by Seanan McGuire

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a short story that was posted to Tor.com that fills in a key story that was briefly mentioned in In an Absent Dream. Even though it was a key plot point in that book, it makes a lot of sense to be separated out from the novella. It would have changed the pacing as well as lessened the emotions from the novella.

Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 106, March 2019 by John Joseph Adams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SCIENCE FICTION

The Synapse Will Free Us from Ourselves (Violet Allen) - a story that seems (however horrifying) even more likely now than it did when this issue was first printed. I don’t want to give anything away so I’ll say it would make a great episode of Black Mirror or The Twilight Zone.

On the Shores of Ligeia (Carolyn Ives Gilman) - a nice breath of fresh air in that this story is mostly a story of how and discovery without any dystopian elements.

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another prequel entry in the Wayward Children series. I read this almost entirely in one sitting because I was transfixed. I love logic fantasy worlds and I loved the idea of this one where the world enforces a sense of balance and fairness. As with many of the novellas in this series, it has a lot of tragic twists and turns for the portal worlds are not forgiving places. (A solid deconstruction of the idea as also explored the Magicians trilogy)