Donna Smith

Yaaas! The eccentric, geek culture that makes this book's predictable romantic-mystery genre sing really worked for me. Hooray! I'll be reading more.

This is one I'll get for the high school library. How cool to have a Jewish perspective in medieval/renaissance-set fantasy, and the Russian setting felt pretty authentic (though, when did potatoes come to Russia? Maybe the fairies brought them before Columbus...). I didn't have a problem with the multiple first-person narration, though though it is a bold choice and it did sometimes take me a few sentence figure out who was supposed to be speaking. Clever. I liked Uprooted more, but this one was very, very cool–and more captivating to me than the Temeraire books.

This is an urban fantasy author I'll find more of–I'm very curious to see how this world and these characters develop. Dineh cosmology is a really well-chosen foundation for world-building in this rather dark, near-future kind of post-apocalyptic no-longer-USA. I loved that all the main characters were native–in other urban fantasy I've come across with native characters, they're still isolated within white society, stuck still (STILL!!!!) in the side-kick roll. (Yes, Mercy Thompson is nobody's sidekick, but she's pretty isolated from native culture!) I really appreciated Trail of Lightning's all-native world. Lots of good vibe to this book in the realms of world-building and characterisation and the the well-developed cultural backstory, though the violence is real enough to give me pause. The creepy witchcraft was also near my limit. I liked that there were hints of redemption while leaving all the MCs unable to sort themselves into any kind of morally unambiguous categories, either good or bad. We'll see if the next in series pushes the moral ambiguity to my limits too, or if I can continue to enjoy the things that are powerful and interesting about this series.

How to break into a new-ish-to-me genre, Christian romance? Venn diagram book bloggers' recommendations and my library's catalogue.
DNF at 22%.
I liked some of the ideas: the autistic son of the H who corresponded to the h's experience with her autistic brother–that's a quite interesting idea to me. HOWEVER I couldn't get past some big flaws. The villains in the piece were 2D with no motivation. But so were the MCs! The daily lived life of a village in that time and place was entirely missing from the experience, as was the daily lived details of heat, water, chores, light, toilets, cleaning–basically, any practicality of life–in that time/place DESPITE it being a plot point. Clearly this author has never hauled water, heated it over a stove, slept in the cold, been dehydrated/hungry for a day, lit the house with an oil lamp or candle, etc. I. just. can't.
Anyone got any good recommendations in this genre?

The good thing about Anne Bishop books is the quirky, somewhat damaged but charming characters who come together to offer support and create healing community for each other. The bad thing about them is the world creation! Geography, history, sociology, technology appear in the books in The Others series to serve plot quirks but without the well thought-out internal logic that would keep these details from getting under my historian/anthropologist skin. (Shall I get myself started on how creepy it is that the Others live in fake North America as the original residents until apparently fake-Europe descended people came–which makes First Nation people what exactly in this alternate Earth??? Blergh! I want to hop up and down and roar about this!)
Yeah, this'll be my last Anne Bishop. An easy read, but kind of obvious for a thriller genre, and not engaging enough for a “let's hang out with these quirky characters” read–I don't really care about whether everyone finds their soulmate or not–and the very weak world creation is the lasting bad taste that lingers after digesting Lake Silence, so..nope.

I liked the clever woman working in STEM and the New York setting rang true–but the African kingdom felt like a Disney set from Switzerland or something. I lived in West Africa for a few years and I couldn't suspend my disbelief for the whole fake-kingdom side to this story. Too bad–I would love to read more fiction set in Africa written by folks who know the setting!

I teach history for work and study theology for fun: this book is the bomb. I'm a new fan of N.T. Wright!

Re-reading this with students in an English class.
Is it just because I'm middle-aged that teen Mary Shelley's MC Victor seems TSTL? Come on, dude: you've got every advantage, yet keep walking into the metaphorical dark alley because you won't trust the DOZENS of people who love you? And then you abandon Ernst?? Probably my strong reaction just connects to messages Shelley wanted me to get loud and clear...but what an annoying main character! The second time through, my sympathies are much more firmly with Victor's creation than Victor.

I'm also annoyed that this book barely passes the Bechdel test of having two women talk to each other about something other than a man (Don't Justine and Elizabeth have, like, 2 sentences to say to each other in the prison?). But, I am also annoyed on behalf of Mary Shelley that her teen-aged work of genius was produced in a context that shaped it into a work that barely passes the Bechdel test... I'm cheering for you, nineteenth-century proto-feminists!

Reading this the second time, I'm still impressed at Mary Shelley's achievement. My students (generally around 17-y-olds) found lots of things to talk about in this book–we read it alongside selections of Paradise Lost, so lots of good class discussions there about all sorts of things (theology & religion, gender & power, etc.).

A good book-club read so you can hash out with your friends all the things that are going on with family, nature, Romanticism, the relationship of the artist/creator to the creation, what makes us human, etc. And can hate on Victor for being dumb. Just sayin'.

I liked the idea of having romance main characters with MS and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The treatment was on the light side, which stole some of the power of this kind of story, and some hurdles were magically overcome with a wave of the authorial wand. Some very good writing choices here, but ultimately a forgettable story that didn't impact my mind or heart much–so failure to live up to the promise of the interesting characters and pacing. Made me want to re-read “Courting Gretta” by Ramsay Hootman again for a romance with a wheelchair that really turned my heart AND brain inside out.

Read this one because I really liked Matchmaking for Beginners, but this one–not so much. This one had situations that would have been quirky and interesting but all the people populating them (exception possibly the main female character and the kids, who weren't 3-d characters but rather props for adult drama) were people I didn't want to spend time with, who, in fact, I found not just not sympathetic but verging on poisonously dysfunctional. The developing romance made me cringe and think “No! no! he's a creepy looser! run away!”By 4/5 through I ditched it. Not for me.

This is a book I'll be recommending to others! It's the kind of non-fiction that is as gripping as fiction, and I was very engaged in the author's journey to both defy death, hold on to her family (her husband is a hero, for sure), and grow in maturity in her vocation. Not just medical and human drama, but personal growth because of suffering.

Awww, Murderbot! How can my heart be squeezed by a more-robot-than-human construct? Yet, I'm ready to side with Murderbot against the galaxy and chase down more stories. My first Martha Wells, but not my last.

Re-read; just as compelling as the first time, with as many snort-aloud and a few put-down-book-amidst-uprorious-laughter moments as the first time. Perhaps because I'm an historian myself and part of an very eccentric, very nerdy organisation, I am utterly charmed by much here. Taylor has got INSTINCTS for HISTORY! I very rarely find myself highlighting quotes that I want to chase people down and read aloud, but: this book!

I liked this book! It captures the dislocation of both grief and being out of place culturally (I thought of Sophia Copola's film “Lost in Translation”). This book realistically deals with grief, identity, family, displacement, and depicts the traveler lifestyle–long-term tourism in cheap-to-live/spiritually-rich places by a tribe of wanderers, and is ultimately hopeful. A spoiler: the Sikh-Canadian who finds a Jesus ashram was a really interesting idea. A quibble: I wish the main viewpoint character, Timothy, had had the last word in the novel; it would have felt like a better bookmark.

Just when I'd make up my mind that Charity really was TSTL, she'd do something clever, like drive like a race car driver, or finally manage to trick a Bad Guy. So, maybe my review deserves another half a star, but...
I read most of Mary Stewart's thrillers in high school, and the sexist 50's milieu doesn't hold up for me upon re-reading. [spoiler:] I'm particularly nonplussed by the INSTANT falling in love followed 10 days later by a wedding. Nope.
I do give Stewart props for writing a thriller in which the heroine doesn't wield deus-ex-machina good luck but rather is plagued by rather comprehensively bad luck (albeit plot-moving-forward bad luck) and always manages to aaaaaalmost get away...only to turn the corner and into the arms of her pursuer. That feels more like real life.
Plucky David was my favourite character, and if his father's insta-marriage to Charity means that David gets what he wants too, I guess I can consider it a happy ending. As long as no one offers me a cigarette and orders me to obey orders whilst demeaning my naturally feminine lack of logic. Just sayin'.
Also: my least favourite Mary Stewart title. Whaaa??

I'm writing this review to say: don't read this book by Karla Sorensen; but do read all the rest of hers. I've just binged on eleven of her books over the past fortnight, but this one, her first, just isn't as good as the rest. So, go, please, read the rest!
This one didn't work for me. The heroine seemed whiny, immature, addicted to shopping (which I find creepy and damaging, not a cute, harmless hobby), and claimed to be OCD. Ah, I thought: how interesting to read about a character with this disability! Alas, no: it's a thoughtless way to say that she organizes things in her spare time. (Consider the comics of Lily Williams for a glimpse into this disorder. https://lilywilliamsart.com/portfolio/ocdcomics/#jp-carousel-4720 )
Since I wasn't interested in the characters and disengaged with the conflict that was signaled, I quit 30% in.
But read her other books. I liked them!

I find emotional intelligence sexy. This book, therefore, is not.
DNF at 80% because I just couldn't take another person being determined to be foolish and not wise.
To give Novak her due: the characters are realistic, the conflicts they have stem from real human choices that I completely believed; every character had strong motivation which and a believable back story which guided their actions. However: drama, drama, drama of the emotionally unintelligent variety and I just couldn't take it anymore. There were sparks of the heroine making good choices based on having processed her life...but she waffled and believed lies and I just couldn't.
I don't want ANY of these people as my friends. If, however, you like tangled family drama and realistic interpersonal conflict, then this may be the book for you. If you prefer more emotional intelligence, try out Chloe Liese or Penny Reid.

Not just steampunk pirates!, but heart-of-gold, mad-scientist, dreadlocked, misunderstood, inventor pirates! Not just fighter pilots!, but pint-sized, feisty-grrl, assassin-grade marks-woman fighter pilots! Plus talking swords! Steam-powered dirigibles! Out-of-time sorceresses! Caves, jungles, volcanoes, and the bubbling taiga of death!!! Wisecracking screwball comedy humour!
If you dealt out all these narrative elements from the Big Deck of Big Adventures, I'd roll my eyes...yet in Boroker's adventures they work charmingly. Awww! What a fun escape. A quick, satisfying read. Witty and inventive.

Meh. Clever, stylish concept and no lack of action, but by 20% through, the two-dimensional characters eroded my willingness to put up with narrative weakness. Is the story missing sentences? The sentences that would have set up major character qualities or plot events? Characters will do things that haven't been set up in the plot (let's check out the inn, randomly–ah! we've discovered something to advance the plot! but, why di we go to the inn? because..a deus came out of the machina of the author's mind and nudged us there? Um...). Not impressed. A shame.

3 1/2 stars. I'd find myself annoyed at Don's internal dialogue that constantly interrupts plot and dialogue and almost put the book down...then discover an hour later that apparently I'd been sucked in!, so I guess I liked this book more in large chunks than little tastes! I really liked the first book, and am charmed by the non-conventional narrative voice in romantic fiction of Don Tillman, and glad that his friends and his exceptionalities save the day. Awww! I shall certainly read the third in the series. I'm increasingly a fan of “on the spectrum” fiction, esp. romantic fiction, and this seems a worthy addition. It's also cool to read a “married and in love and working it out” story.

Aww: a novel about a priest that didn't make me, a devout Christian in ministry, wince at the Christian-isms. I could believe in and like Sidney and his friends without rolling my eyes at the depiction of his vocation. I like the episodic plot structure. I'd seen season 1 of the TV series first, and I like this book better. I'll seek out and read more of these.

Eeeh...nope. I've read almost everything Reid has written except these collaborations with Cosway, and I'm a big Reid fan, auto-buy for sure. I read this on in the Beach Reads Box Set V collection.
In contrast to other top picks by Reid, this reads like under-edited juvenilia and I shan't seek out any others in the series.
Yuck to the lack of consent modeled in the “Her words say no but her sexy lips say yes and I'll crowd her into an airplane bathroom” kind of relationship they have. Creepy, and: no. I want everyone in this book to go to therapy for a few years and then try again to have healthier relationships with every one (self, siblings, workmates, etc.). “‘Hey, I'll behave on this trip. I promise'” he tells her, knowing that he's lying as he says it, crowding her personal space and crossing boundaries she's set. “For several seconds I was wracked with indecision. I'd told her I'd behave on this trip, but the temptation to follow her was too much.” Uh, no, dude: the temptation is NOT too much. You are just too selfish and immature to respect boundaries. What you should say is, “I know I made a promise to respect her boundaries, but I don't want to be self-controlled and so I'm choosing to put myself first over her.”

Mmm...didn't work for me. I felt like I was being told over and over what the characters were like, more than shown. Like, one character says something like, “This has been the longest month of my life!” and I thought “...really? it didn't feel that engaging or stressful to me”.
My editor's eye also kept wanting to re-write sentences and delete needless words; felt like an early effort for an author who has obviously gotten much more practice since and does have a large audience.
I don't like this vision of sex–and it's a particular, world-building element of the stories; it made me feel icky, not warm and fuzzy. These seem like books about sex with shifters in them, not books about shifters where some people find partnerships. Not for me.

3 1/2 stars.
I liked this book! The complexity and realism of characters drew me in, and the mystery elements also really worked–I kept thinking, they must be getting close to a solultion...then plot twist! Nice one.
Generally, teens solving crimes at boarding school is as two-dimensional as could be, but this book managed to let me suspend my disbelief on that one.
This book is too gritty for me to recommend to the school library where I work, but violent, sexual, mental illness, family dysfunction, and drug-related content wasn't gratuitous. The things that should have messed people up and resulted in them being a bit broken did, in fact, result in brokenness, and no one, kids or adults, were 100% black or white (except our villain, who was pretty straight forwardly evil).
Spoiler: An image that will linger is Jamie crawling under the porch and choosing to hold Charlotte while she's mean and high, saying yes to their weird friendship, choosing loyalty and to be present.

So interesting! Realistic romantic fiction that explores some fascinating social realities without at all being preachy or a tract. Very dimensional characters. Well-crafted characterisation, something I require in this kind of genre fiction. I really liked it! I believed the characters, bought their motivations and back-stories, was glad for their growth–yup, down for all of it. I also very much loved how the kids were REAL KIDS!

This was my first book by Paton but won't be my last.