When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain: 12/30/23

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo (2020) is the second novella in the The Singing Hills Cycle series. Cleric Chih, always in search for a new story, finds themself at the mercy of some hungry tigers. To save the lives of themself and their companions, Chih enters into a lengthy story swapping session with the tigers.

These books aren't plot heavy, at least if one is expecting Chih to be the main character. Instead, they are mostly a framing device for a series of interconnected tiger themed stories. The conceit being, if Chih can get the stories right (or at least make them entertaining) the tigers will let everyone live.

This book is a good read alike for anyone one enjoyed The Raconteur's Commonplace Book by Kate Milford (2021).

Five stars

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Fogged Inn: 12/29/23

Fogged Inn by Barbara Ross and Dara Rosenberg (Narrator) (2016) is the fourth book in the Maine Clambake mystery series. Winter is approaching and Julia and boyfriend Chris are sharing the apartment above Gus's. A few nights a week they run Gus's restaurant for dinner since it's the off season.

After a particularly strange dinner, one where the diners were stuck there because of an accident on the one road into town, Gus finds a body in the walk-in. The dead man was one of the guests the night before. Julia, convinced that someone in the restaurant killed him decides to investigate.

What unfolds is an investigation into another era of Busman's Harbor history. This time it's 1970s and a particular set of summer folk who had grown up together, partied together, and then drifted apart for a variety of reasons.

Of all the old mysteries being tied to a new murder plots I've read, this one stands out because it's one of the rare one where the amateur sleuth doesn't get it all right. There's enough information there for the reader to piece things together too but it's ultimately the local authorities who figure everything out. That's not to say that Julia isn't helpful, she was, but she was too quick to jump to conclusions.

The fifth book is Iced Under (2016).

Four stars

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Ya Boy Kongming!, Volume 2: 12/28/23

Ya Boy Kongming! Volume 2 by Yuto Yotsuba and Ryō Ogawa (2020) covers Eiko's first push into the next piece of her career.

With Kongming and her manager's support, she's performing at a live music festival. Being the newbie, though, she has the worst spot in the event. Worst yet, she's near to a loud, popular test, and her sound equipment has failed!

The shtick with this series is that every career move can be equated to a wartime strategy. Even when things seem to be going poorly, it's all a ruse, one carefully crafted by Kongming.

Five stars

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Live and Let Grind: 12/27/23

Live and Let Grind by Tara Lush and Kae Marie Denino (Narrator) (2022) is the third book in the Coffee Lover's mystery series. Lana is sharing her home with BFF and coworker Erica. Their next door neighbor is killed by his leaf blower. Circumstantial evidence points to Erica.

Although Lana is a journalist by trade, the local editor isn't interested in her story this time. Despite that, she leverages her experience to investigate.

What I love about this series is how Tara Lush lays the foundation of her town throughout her books. Devil's Beach feels like a fully formed place, not one that expands or mutates as the plot needs. Places established in previous books become points of interest for later mysteries. It's organic and believable.

Lana's father is also a hoot. I love how he's there and he's supportive but he also has his own life. His story is an entertaining B plot. So often the A and B plots end up being connected so it's refreshing to have them be completely separate things.

The fourth book is A Bean to Die For. It releases January 9th, 2024.

Five stars

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Coaching Fire: 12/26/23

Coaching Fire by Victoria Laurie and Rachel Dulude (narrator) (2023) is the fifth book in the Life Coach mystery series. After their trip to France, Gilley has found love in the form of designer and creative director, Stuart Jacobs. Cat is with them in Texas, avoiding Steve Shepherd after his proposal at the airport.

Although Stuart Jacobs is from New York, he and his crew have been hired to design the annual Texas Rose Festival. The festival seems plagued: a designer is murdered, diamonds are stolen, and the warehouse where the work is done is set on fire.

There are two big things at play here. The first is police brutality — especially against the BIPOC members of Stuart's crew (including their main suspect). The second is the great lengths the once wealthy with go to, to still appear wealthy.

Thematically I'm reminded of Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal by Raquel V. Reyes (2023). Except Cat's observation of white violence against minorities is seen from the perspective of a privileged, wealthy white woman. Cat's financial power sets her apart from most of the characters in this mystery.

The change in location also gives Cat and Shepherd's relationship a chance to evolve without the amateur sleuth / detective dynamic. Shepherd has done a lot of soul searching and has matured as a character. Cat, too, finally faces her fears left over from her divorce at the start of the series.

Five stars

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Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 12/24/23

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and W. W. Denton (1900) is one of maybe a dozen books I've re-read so many times over the course of my life that I've forgotten just how many times. It for all its flaws is a quintessentially American fantasy novel, especially when taken in context with the later Oz books.

While the remaining books have a major publishing house and a different illustrator, book one was self published in four colors with some absolutely garish design work. The book entered the public domain in 1956 and most versions since then don't fully replicate Denton's color design, or even his illustrations. A lot of the modern versions use either Evelyn Copelman's illustrations or others inspired by the 1939 MGM film.

As Dorothy is so young when she arrives in Oz much of what we know of Oz is informed by what the adults in Oz tell her. Reading as an adult, though, it's clear that they are lying to her, either flat out lying as the "wonderful" Humbug of Oz does, or through omission as is the wont of Glinda and the unnamed Witch of the North.

The 1939 film by making Dorothy older and by making her experience a "all a dream," the magnitude of Dorothy's time in Oz is negated. The young girl ends up spending between four and six months in Oz. It takes her a week to get to the "Wizard." She spends a couple days in the Emerald City before being sent West to act as a child soldier for this Omaha ex-pat. She's captured with the Witch and kept as her prisoner for weeks if not months before finally killing the Witch. She spends days lost on the way back to the Emerald City. Once back she spends another week waiting for reward from the wizard, only to be forced to do all the sewing by hand on the balloon that the "Wizard" says will take her home. Except he books it before she can make it to the balloon, thus leaving her another week or so to schlep down to Glinda's overgrown piece of Oz to ask one last adult for help.

Worst of all, had the original "good" Witch just told her how to use the silver slippers she's given, she could have gone home instantly. But, not, Dorothy is strung along throughout the book by all the adults in power for their own benefit. I understand that part of this is to show children how resourceful they can be in trying times, but it's also telling. Oz is a utopia in the literal sense (a no-place, meaning it's not on any known map) and a dystopia in the more modern sense of the words utopia and dystopia.

Dorothy is approximately six years old in this book. She's an orphan who has lived long enough with her aunt and uncle in Kansas to know no other life and to be happy with it. As the book was finished in 1899, that puts her birth in 1893, just a few short years after Frederick Turner's essay about the closing of the frontier.

If there is nowhere "new" for white people to explore, Baum's solution is Oz. Getting there, though, is a near death experience (a theme that remains in the books that involve travel from Earth to Oz and surrounds). See my review of Speedy in Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson (1934) for more thoughts on death and Oz. I make the comment about Oz being for white people because that's how Oz and later Thompson wrote their books. Oz is populated by white people of various magical species and creations, as well as sentient items and furniture, and sentient animals.

Even among pastiches and retellings, Oz typically remains very white. The one big exception is The Wiz, which if you haven't seen, you should. Given how quicntenstially American the Oz stories are, I'd love to see the world explored by a wider range of Americans. I would like to see their American further reflected in Oz, as much of Oz is informed by American innovations and pop culture.

The second book in the series is The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) which I will be re-reading in January.

Five stars

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Fire Force, Volume 1: 12/22/23

Fire Force, Volume 1 by Atsushi Ohkubo (2016) is a prequel to the Soul Eater manga series. Although that's not obvious from the two anime series, it is in the manga.

Shinra can make fire with his feet. It seems to be the way humanity is evolving, that is, those who don't self combust. He joins a fire fighting unit designed to control the internals.

The anime was more focused on the character dynamics than on world building. There is that too but I think it's better balanced. Unfortunately the manga also goes for cheap fan service too.

Four stars

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Oh No, the Aunts Are Here: 12/21/23

Oh No, the Aunts Are Here by Adam Rex and Lian Cho (Illustrator) (2023) is a picture book about aunts descending upon a girl's family unexpected. She enjoys their company but is also somewhat overwhelmed by their enthusiasm.

Aunties, whether related by blood or just the adult women of the neighborhood have a long, rich tradition in many cultures of helping raise children. They come together when needed providing support in ways that maybe Mom and Dad can't.

Who these aunts are is never overtly explained. Given their diversity who they are is left up to the imagination. Could be a large blended family. Could be neighborhood aunties. Church aunties. Mythical Amazon aunties. Who knows!

The arrival of the aunties also happens to sit on the Road Narrative Spectrum. Regardless of blood kinship, the title "aunt" implies family and thus makes them a family of travelers (33). Their destination is the girls home (66). Their arrival and departure is an offroad one, as shown at the end with them taking wing (66).

Five stars

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New Year's Eve Murder: 12/19/23

New Year's Eve Murder by Leslie Meier and Karen White (Narrator) (2005) is the twelfth book in the Lucy Stone mystery series. Lucy and Elizabeth are in New York City to participate in a makeover contest held by Jolie Magazine. Before the winner is announced, fashion editor Nadine Nelson.

Although this is the fourth book in the series published post 9/11, this book is the first one to mention it, or draw inspiration from it. Of course with a trip to Manhattan it would be hard not to. Lucy and Elizabeth comment on how the rules around flying have changed, including the exclusion of liquids in carry-on luggage. Plus Lucy ruminates over the gaping hole in the skyline where the old World Trade Center buildings were as this is before the new building and memorial was built.

The murder weapon as well is "ripped from the headlines" as Law and Order liked to say. The method is anthrax. Reading the book eighteen years after publication makes that choice of weapon seem a bit cliché and obvious. But it does give Lance, now a college student (as is Elizabeth) a chance to shine. He figures out a few crucial things before Lucy and makes for an amusing but helpful ally.

Like Father's Day Murder (2003), I count this one among my favorites so far. Lucy is a much more interesting character when she's traveling and away from the majority of her family.

The thirteenth book is Bake Sale Murder (2006)

Four stars

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Memoirs of a Mangy Lover: 12/17/23

Memoirs of a Mangy Lover by Groucho Marx and Leo Hershfeld (illustrator) (1962) is a collection of shaggy dog stories and essays that are tangentially related to Groucho's life. But if you're expecting a look behind the curtain, this isn't that book.

Groucho's stories have a similar flair to the chapters contained in the Tatami Galaxy books. Imagine if those books were all written from the POV of the self proclaimed Love God instead of the boy and the girl.

The volume I read has line art illustrations by Leo Hershfeld. I love his artwork although there were scenes that he didn't illustrate that I wish he had.

Four stars

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Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal: 12/16/23

Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal by Raquel V. Reyes and Frankie Corzo (narrator) (2023) is the third book in the Caribbean Kitchen mystery series. What starts as a vacation to the Dominican Republic and becomes a work trip in Puerto Rico puts Miriam into the middle of a gentrification money laundering scam that's affecting so many of the small towns across the Caribbean, regardless of country.

Miriam and her family were originally from Cuba. While she now lives with her husband and extended family in Florida, her parents have tried to recreate their life in the Dominican Republic. They work as property managers and here it's at a hotel that seems to have hit on a string of extremely bad luck. Miriam, though, suspects sabotage and she think's it's Jules, a developer who keeps showing up wherever she is.

This mystery is one of the most complex ones I've read in a long time. Mysteries that involve travel usually follow the Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie, 1934) formula, with the murder being in a fixed location with a fixed number of suspects (a train, a plane, a ship, for example). Here, though, the mystery is split across two countries with similar histories but unique cultures.

There is a murder, or rather murders, as collateral damage when other methods of stealing properties doesn't work. Miriam's part in solving the mystery is out of justifiable outrage at how the wealthy are gaming a system to their own benefit to displace local people and further tank economies already suffering for a long laundry lists of reasons.

As Miriam is also working through most of this book, there's we get to see her education as a food anthropologist coming through. I loved all this added detail. Frankly if Raquel V. Reyes ever branches out to write some nonfiction books about Caribbean culture and food, I will read them.

Five stars

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Thornhedge: 12/14/23

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (2023) is a novella retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The story was inspired in the process of writing a different retelling, namely, Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible (2016), written under the actual name, Ursula Vernon

The question in Thornhedge is what is the true nature of the thorny vines? What if their purpose isn't to keep the rescuers out but to keep the cursed princess in? Why would you need to keep a cursed princess hidden? What sort of monster must she be?

Instead of the story being from the cursed princess's point of view, the story is from the fairy who cursed her. We're given her life from birth through ultimately casting the curse and her decision to stay behind to keep the tower hidden behind her hedge.

As with the other T. Kingfisher / Ursula Vernon books, this one sits on the Road Narrative Spectrum. It's a scarecrow/minotaur (99) traveler dichotomy where the fairy needs to protect the world from the princess. Her destination is the wildlands (99), her literal thornhedge. Her route there is the cornfield/tkaronto (FF) as represented by her water based magic.

Five stars

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Murder at the Lobstah Shack: 12/12/23

Murder at the Lobstah Shack by Maddie Day and Rachel Dulude (Narrator) (2021) is the third book in the Cozy Capers Book Group mystery series. Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida discovers the body of Annette DiCicero in the walk in freezer of the local Lobstah Shack. Tulia Peters, the shack's owner, had a contentious relationship with Annette but swears she didn't kill the woman. Mac believes her and decides to help figure out who actually did.

Maddie Day is very good at seeding her stories with details. Some throw away lines always end up being crucial clues but they're presented in an organic way that they're rarely obvious. If they are obvious, there's enough else going on that the story entertains.

As I've read eleven of Day's mysteries, I've gotten pretty good at recognizing the important clues. Early on I had the basic gist of what had happened but the how took until near the end. This mystery is one of unfortunate events that are dealt with poorly.

The fourth book is Murder in a Cape Cottage (2022)

Five stars

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A Little Ray of Sunshine: 12/10/23

A Little Ray of Sunshine by Kristan Higgins (2023) is set on Cape Cod, primarily in a bookstore, and that's probably why I picked up the book in the first place. Bear that in mind with my less than enthusiastic review.

Harlow is the eldest child. She's in her mid thirties and runs the family book store with her somewhat forgetful grandfather and a handful of employees. For years now her family has been pressuring her to settle down and start a family. She always rebuffs them.

And then her reason why finds her one summer. Matthew Patel, the baby she gave up for adoption when she was a freshman in college has found her as he begins his applications to college. Her secret is out and now Matthew and his adoptive parents want her back in their lives. Harlow's family, though, is traumatized by the news.

If the novel had stayed with Harlow's first person point of view narration I probably would have been more compelled to read. Unfortunately after every big reveal or argument or thing that would move the plot forward, the novel would switch to another point of view, written in third person.

Primarily the other POV is Monica, the adoptive mother who is feeling now guilty and woefully inadequate because her husband who is a teacher is closer to their children. She's very much a "main character moment" type character and keeps trying to make the book about herself despite it clearly being Harlow's story.

But then there are also some weird POV chapters from Cynthia who works at the bookstore. She has even less reason to be a POV character than Monica and is even more whiny about everything. I don't care that she feels put out by not being allowed to own more of the shop. I don't care about all the ways life has shorted her. It's not her story!

Three stars

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No Way Out: 12/08/23

No Way Out by Dan Poblocki (2017) is the third book in the Shadow House horror series. Three remain: Poppy, Dash, and Azumi. They're out of the house and just need to get back to the driveway gate. Except they can't. Larkspur won't let them.

This series started off strong with each main character being haunted one way or another. They were each sold a different dubious story to lure them to Larkspur. And then Larkspur instantly tried to trap them.

The second book explored the relationship of the twins, Dash and Dylan and slowly turned Dylan into another one of Larkspur's monsters. This book, though, has no where to go.

The logical direction would be to let the children think they're going to escape Larkspur only to pull them and the reader away from that. Instead, the property tosses in a bunch of obstacles, starting with a carnival tent for reasons that are never explained.

Basically, No Way Out lacks direction. Instead of it being a character study of five haunted children trapped by an evil house, this volume is three children run from one set piece to another to either bicker amongst themselves or to have another encounter with a ghost or monster.

This volume like the previous two sits on the Road Narrative Spectrum. The fact that volume three returns to the same placement as the first volume is another sign that there is no motion in plot or character development.

Again it's scarecrows vs minotaurs (66) (children trying to help monsterized ghosts and free them) trying to get home (away from Larkspur) (66) via the maze (the various sets, including a literal mirror maze (CC).

The final volume is The Missing (2017).

Three stars

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Murder and Mamon: 12/06/23

Murder and Mamon by Mia P. Manansala and Danice Cabanela (Narrator) (2023) is the fourth book in the Tita Rosie's Kitchen mystery series. The Calendar Crew is celebrating the opening of a new business venture: a laundromat. Unfortunately the business is vandelized and Ninang April’s niece is found murdered inside.

As well established in the series, Aunties April, May and June live for chismes. This mystery is a direct result of all that gossiping. Ruined reputations have torn apart the community and driven someone to violence.

Manansala has crafted a fictional family and community that is tightly woven. It's one where when one in the community is affected, everyone is. The emotions are raw. The grief is palpable.

Five stars

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Bocchi the Rock!, Volume 1: 12/04/23

Bocchi the Rock!, Volume 1 by Aki Hamazi (2019) follows Hitori Gotoh as she tries to overcome her shyness and social anxiety by joining a band. Hitori has been teaching herself guitar since middle school and now in high school has quite the Youtube following but she wants some real world interaction, even if doing so pushes her boundaries well beyond the comfort zone.

The story is told primarily in four panel gags, though none to the extremes as the anime adaptation where "Bocchi space" takes on entire sequences done in a variety of art styles. Here the times where Hitori zones out usually involve a single frame of her with a funny expression or maybe she's hiding in a box, as she does to play her first gig at the club.

I think if I hadn't seen and loved the anime, I wouldn't have made it through this first volume. The artwork is rather samey throughout and the text is super tiny and hard to read.

Four stars

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Prologue to Murder: 12/03/23

Prologue to Murder by Lauren Elliott and Karen White (Narrator) (2019) is the second book in the Beyond the Page Bookstore mystery series. When the head librarian goes missing and is later found dead in an underground utility vault, Miss Newsy accuses Addie Greyborne. Frustrated by the libelous gossip, she teams up with the town's new medical examiner to solve the case.

One trope in seaside based cozy mysteries is the lure of pirate treasure. Prologue to Murder attacks this one by expanding the town's history and Addie's family tree. While the inclusion of pirate treasure seems far fetched in many mysteries (and often results in the treasure angle being a hoax), Elliott does the work to make the lore seem like a plausible addition to her seaside town.

Solving both mysteries come down to what Addie is best at: research through historical documents. A lot of the novel's time is spent on describing her research and relating her findings. That approach to mystery solving will either work or not for you depending on how into primary source research you are.

The third book is Murder in the First Edition (2019)

Five stars

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November 2023 Sources: 12/02/23

With Thanksgiving and art deadlines I was kept busy. When I'm busy I don't read as much and what I read is mostly in the form of audiobooks.

In November I read 13 TBR books, down five from the previous month. One book was published in November. Three books were for research and there were no review copies. None were from the library. My ROOB score for November is -4, down from -3.86. It is my third best November in fourteen years of tracking.

The current year's data is represented by a triangle on the graph below.

I predicted a -3.75 for November. My actual score was slightly lower, -4.0, because I mostly finished older books I started in October. For December, I'm once again predicting a -3.75 as there are some new audiobooks I want to listen to.

My average for November improved, going from -2.83 to -2.91.

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How Spider Saved Halloween: 12/01/23

How Spider Saved Halloween by Robert Kraus (1973) was published the year I was born. I think I had it read to me way back when. I came across it again via social media — Instagram, I think. As it was coming up on Halloween, I though it was a good time to read or re-read it.

Spider's having one of those days where he just can't get a costume he feels comfortable in. His complaint is that the costumes don't disguise him enough. He still looks like spider but in a funny hat, for example.

Fortunately Spider has good friends in Fly and Ladybug. They have costume ideas and the patience to help Spider with his.

There's also a subplot involving bullies. The friends' reaction to the bullies is what spurs on Spider to his final and best costume choice.

Five stars

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November 2023 Summary: 12/01/23

November I was busy with art with two commissions to work on, updating my ko-fi site, and my work at the Sun Gallery. Time as an artist is time I'm not reading. On top of that, there was Thanksgiving and a trip down to Los Angeles.

I read four fewer books in November as October, 17, down from 21. Of my read books, fourteen were diverse and five were queer. I reviewed 19 books, down by 1 from the previous month. On the reviews front, ten were diverse and five were queer.

I have 19 books left to review of of the 255 I've read.

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