Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

by Carol2 Comments
I picked up Missing, Presumed because a.) I enjoy mysteries and b.) the blurb sounded interesting. I was expecting the standard police procedural, but what I got was more about the characters than the plot. I thought it was excellent, but if you're looking for a standard formulaic mystery, this isn't it. If you care about the people involved, about their flaws and strengths, their disillusionments and personal struggles, pick it up. It's more a general fiction than mystery to me, if that makes sense. It's not a puzzle with a neat set of clues and a clever wrap-up. Don't get me wrong, I love those too, but this one is less linear, slower pace with lots of side-tracking. Although Edith is the missing, presumed dead woman, Manon is the star, but she's complicated. In hindsight, she may have a few too many issues, but while reading the book I loved her. She's tough and smart, but lonely and needy. She's probably...
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Thursday’s Tale: The Boy Who Wanted the Willies

by Carol1 Comment
  Today's story comes from Folktales on Stage by Aaron Shepherd. The book is a very nice collection of scripts for children. Some were new to me and others familiar. There are funny stories and tales with a moral lesson. The scripts are clear and appropriate for children. If I worked with a group of kids, whether in school or storytime, I think it would be a nice addition to my shelves. Shepherd based "The Boy Who Wanted the Willies" on a tale by the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, "The Story of a Boy Who Went Forth to Learn Fear" but added a lot of changes and embellishments. There was once a boy, Hans, who was never afraid of anything, mostly because he didn't have enough sense to be afraid. One evening Hans and his sister were walking by a graveyard when the sister said the place gave her the willies. Hans asked what the willies were and his sister told him the willies are when...
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The Witch Who Came in from the Cold: Season One by Lindsay Smith, Max Gladstone, Ian Tregillis, Cassandra Rose Clarke, and Michael Swanwick

by Carol4 Comments
The Witch Who Came in from the Cold was first published weekly on Serial Box, although I read the whole first season as a collection. That means no waiting, but I think I might subscribe for Season 2 next year and read an episode a week, since in theory that's the way it's designed to be read. This was a great mix of fantasy and espionage. Prague in the 1970s is in the midst of the Cold War, with spies from both sides keeping tabs on each other, trying to outwit each other, but there's another war going on too, a war between Ice and Fire, and your ally in one might be your enemy in the other. Secrets and more secrets, stakeouts and safe houses, clandestine meetings and backroom negotiations. This episode centered around a scientist who was defecting from Russia to the US, but he also has great value for the sorcerers. I like the world. It's based in reality and adds...
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Day of the Dragonking by Edward Irving

by CarolNo Comments
Day of the Dragonking may be the oddest book I've read recently. I think that's a good thing, but it's hard to write a review of it. If you read the blurb, you'll know that a Change has come, that normal people are becoming magical, and magical people are losing their powers. We've got Tarot cards personified and deities from various cultures coming to life. Not actually coming to life - people are being transformed into them. Ghosts are visible and the main character, Steve, has a cell phone that is somehow haunted by an Asian teenager. It's a funny and violent at times. The author plays with the Washington stereotypes well. It's got great action and a few really well-developed characters. It's a wild ride and I'm not quite sure it follows its own rules, but that's okay, just fasten your seat belt and enjoy the trip. It's definitely a funny book too. There were several laugh out loud moments and a...
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Thursday’s Tale: King Garnet Stories

by Carol3 Comments
The King Garnet Stories by Marianne Parry are not traditional fairy tales, but they have that same feel - kings and queens, a touch of magic, a lesson to learn. The King Garnet Stories are fun. The first is my favorite. The King's legs grow way to long and everyone is worried. He is under a spell, but who is casting the spell made it a funny little story. In the second story, King Garnet comes up with a plan to stop his wife from being so bossy. He decides not to talk anymore. He lets his daughters, the doctors, and the witches in on the secret. In the end, the Queen goes back to the nice woman she used to be. It's a cute story even if the portrayal of the Queen is a little sexist. The last story ends with a light-hearted, almost Renaissance fair type battle. Everyone enjoys the day and the decide to make it an annual event. The illustration at the...
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The Pot Thief Who Studied Georgia O’Keeffe by J. Michael Orenduff

by CarolNo Comments
I'm sad. Why did no one tell me about this series before? The Pot Thief Who Studied Georgia O'Keeffe is smart, laugh out loud funny, and a good mystery. It throws in bits of history, literary references, and culture, and word play. It's just fun. Hubie is a criminal. He digs up pots illegally and sells them, but he justifies it well. He says, and I think believes, that the women who made the pots would rather have them in a household that cherishes them than a museum where they are rarely visited, or, even worse, left in the ground unappreciated. He's also a talented potter in his own right, making reproductions. The dead man is one of Hubie's associates, the one who had a buyer for the Tompiro pot. Hubie doesn't seem to broken up over the death, but I'm kind of assuming he was a character we would have met in a previous book or two. We've got his widow, a couple...
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