A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab

An interesting start to a series. The world building was mind bending...Three different Londons, Grey where there is no magic, Red where magic thrives, and White where magic has been mostly drained away in a war...and there used to be Black London...what happened there isn't fully fleshed out in this book but what ever happened there was catastrophic....


Lila is a want to be pirate looking to find a better and more adventurous life...
Kell is from Red London and is one of the last full on magic folk who can travel between worlds...

Add in a set-up, a pair of royal siblings wanting to spread their rule beyond their world, a stone with some strange kind of power, and you have the beginnings of an adventure.

I am not sure where this is going, but it was a good ride and I will defiantly be back to see what happens to Lila, I quite liked her.

I hope to get to know her and Kell more because there wasn't a lot of background detail yet. That isn't a criticism, this wasn't an overly long book, clocking in at just under 400 pages so there wasn't a lot of room to go very deep yet. The last series I read was the Throne of Glass series and those were close to a 1000 pages each so there was more in each book and so this was a different type of journey is all I am getting at. I do want more because the pieces of their stories I have so far as left me wanting to learn more about them and figure out who they really are. And I want to know what the heck happened in Black London!!

(Finished March 27, 2019)

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

I stumbled across this little yet powerful book while shelving one morning last week at work. I didn't realize before that that it was a book. I knew it was a late 90's movie with Kirsten Dunst. The timing was opportune, with Passover coming and my son and I delving into and embracing and learning more about our Jewishness. So I bought it.

Now when I was called it a little book I was being literal, it is small, 166 pages, and a little larger square than a deck of cards, it is small sized. But inside it is huge. The emotion, the fear, the vivid reminder about the importance of remembering and not letting others forget. To paraphrase Eli Wiesel when the witnesses die it is on those that were witness to the telling of the story of those who lived it to keep the memory going, to be witnesses for the witnesses. That is what Hannah learns in such an incredible and powerful way. And she has a mystical trip into the past that last weeks but yet only moments to see for herself. Memory is a powerful thing and if the memory of events like the Holocaust is allowed to slip from memory, from history lessons, we will have allowed 6 million Jews and many, many others, defenders of the Jews, Gays, just about anyone who at the time the Nazi party felt didn't meet their ideas of white, Aryan perfection, to die in vain. We honor their lives and deaths by not letting them be forgotten.

Yolen's method of telling this story, through the eyes of a 13 year old girl who isn't seeing the value of remembering, who doesn't feel connected to her heritage, and placing her in the thick of the camps, it is so very powerful.

(Finished March 21, 2019)

Night Music by Jenn Marie Thorne

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! TOTALLY FELL IN LOVE WITH IT!!! Even when I was crying and felt shredded I loved it.

Night Music is a love letter to falling in love, to music, to NYC (my hometown), to finding yourself when you live in some pretty big shadows. Oscar is a young black man from Bethesda. Ruby is a NYC girl, white, and from a very privileged family. Their race is part of their story, it has to be, his experiences are so different from hers. Oscar talks about being quick to set people's minds at ease as to what kind of man he is. But it isn't the focus, and it felt ok. There are books where the stories dive deeper into the racial component and those are VERY IMPORTANT books. It didn't feel like a chunk was missing, it felt like the story of Oscar and Ruby unfolded in a way that we readers were invited in to see and feel and the challenges weren't brushed aside, but the story was about a specific set of challenges.

Ruby is our point of view for this story, and it is her background that we are wondering about. What ever happened at her audition that made her quit playing piano, where is her mother and why is she so distant, why are her siblings and dad so removed from her life, what the heck is up with this Nora chick, and will she figure out the purpose of her life?

Oscar comes from a stable home with two loving supporting parents, though that isn't the impression Nora is trying to put forward about him, playing the diversity card, to what purpose you have to find out for yourself. He wears bowties that he ties himself, no clip-ons for Oscar. And damn he is so talented. But he has insecurities too. And the sweet love story between these two 17 year olds is just so beautiful and painful and amazing and real.

Ok, can you tell I got a lot of feels from this one? I did. I like political books, I love books that teach me about other points of views, help me be a better ally to the LGBTQ community and for POC. I'm a fan of historical fiction and real a lot of nonfiction too. I read a lot heavy content. And from time to time I need something else, not fluff, this wasn't fluff, but something that makes me feel good, a return to the innocence of love and self-discovery even while tackling tough subjects or moments.

I feel now like I babbling but I really want you to understand that I loved this book!!!

(Finished March 20, 2019)

The Huntress by Kate Quinn

I read and loved The Alice Network by Quinn. That coupled with my manager at Barnes & Noble, who doesn't typically like historical fiction going on and on and on about how much she loved this book made it a must read for me.

And it so very much was!!! It was so good!! The tension was crazy. Trying to figure out if people are who they say they are was intense. Here Quinn did an amazing job of telling a story in three distinct voices. The story is told in alternating chapters from the perspective of and in the voice of Ian, Nina, and Jordan. Nina's story is told in the war years and Nina and Ian's are a few years post war. While Nina is present in the other chapters, her story, how she got where she is, is told from before she meets Ian and how she ended up with them. It is a really great storytelling method here and adds to the excitement and tension. And it makes it impossible to stop from falling in love with Nina.
Jordan is such a great female character. She doesn't want to be pigeonholed into the role young women were expected to fulfill in the 1950's. She wants to be a photographer, her idols are female war correspondents and photographers. She wants to do well and be happy even if it is bucking norms. And Ian, he is so much more than the buttoned up Englishman he seems. He is easy to love and admire. But Tony!!! He doesn't get his own chapters but he is my favorite character. He is Jewish, a New Yorker, not perfect because he is a Yankee fan, and he has heart and brains. He sees so much value in Jordan and her work and desires.


I don't want to spoil anything about this, I want you to have the full experience so I will stop here. But if you like WWII historical fiction, mystery, family drama, and a love story, then this book will please you.


(Finished March 18, 2019)

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett

I saw the trailer for the upcoming TV series and had three immediate thoughts:

DAVID TENANT, YES PLEASE!!!

This is how I will console myself in May after Game of Thrones ends.

I MUST READ THE BOOK!!

And I am so glad I did. It is crazy funny, super snarky, and so wicked!! It was fun to read and also a scathing commentary on how we people treat each other and the planet. I also picked up a poking at overly rigorous religious observation.

I have never read anything by Pratchett (my husband has been reading Disc World I think for well over a year, he hardly reads and it is his biggest failing in my eyes) but I read The Ocean at the End of the Lane and The Graveyard Book by Gaiman and have seen his penned Doctor Who episodes and enjoy his style.

When I mentioned I was planning on reading this I was told I would love it and love it I did. Is it odd that I feel like there is a little bit of love happening between Crowley & Aziraphale? And though she is dead long before the story picks up, I adore Agnes Nutter. I even found myself having a bit of a soft spot of dear old Shadwell, as off his rocker as he seemed.


Anyway, all in all this was great snarky and witty fun!!!

(Finished March 13, 2018)

Slayer (Slayer #1) by Kiersten White

Late last year I discovered Kiersten's work at Barnes & Noble because of a sample of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein and was so hooked I had to buy the book and read the rest. Then I saw this one, more of her writing and a trip back to the Buffyverse, which I loved in real time and many times over!!!

Picking up some time after the ending of Buffy the series this is not Buffy's story though her name comes up, a lot. This is Nina's story. This is the story of the Watchers. And there is plenty to bring back the series (Five-by-Five, Wesley, Angel, Buffy, but thankfully no Xander!!). First and best, Kiersten writes with so much of the beloved snark that is a huge part of Buffy that Joss would be proud!!!! Like TV series, this story doesn't take itself too seriously even as it tackles something quite serious. No, not the demons and vampires and other bits of evil stuck here after the way Buffy ended. But how to figure out who you are and how to be true to yourself even when the pressure from outside forces keep trying to make you what they think you should be.



And holy cliffhanger!! I need book 2 ASAP!!!!
I wouldn't mind if Willow somehow makes an appearance, she is my favorite Buffy character.
But not just more of this story, I am going to get my hands on and read everything Kiersten has written!

PS She has an awesome Twitter feed!!

(Finished March 8, 2019)

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Oy Vey!! I started this book almost exactly a year ago (3/1/18)!!! I put it aside for reason I can't remember and then it got buried. Last night after I finished The Beautiful Struggle I was looking through my stacks to see what I wanted to read next and found this one with only about 80 pages left to read. So I figured I might as well. 

To be 100% honest, I don't remember every little detail, but I know I liked the story. 

Uprooted is a fairy tale about a land where something awful is in the wood and to keep the evil away the Wizard in the tower comes ever 10 years to take a young girl from the village. It is the price they willingly pay for the lives of the rest of the village. What happens to the girl he takes isn't known but she is let go before the next girl is chosen. What if anything he does doesn't really matter, the girls are not able to return home. 

When she reaches the age of the choosing she is part of Agnieszka is sure her best friend will be taken so is quite shocked when she is chosen instead. 

What follows is a story of courage, good vs. evil, love, loyalty, and of course magic. The mystery of what happens to the girl who is taken isn't what one might expect. The magic is bound in nature. And the evil is in the form of trees and comes from the heart of people who don't remember the right thing or end up remembering the wrong and how the evil takes root in the heart and grows, much like s ingle tree becomes a forest. 

(Finished March 4, 3019)

The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates

As raw as he writes about his childhood in Baltimore I think it might have been more than he shared. But share he does and it is poetic. Ta-Nehisi writes brilliantly with words that paint and sing, the beat of his drum and the sound of the pounding sneakers and boombox leap off the page.


In the dark moments he felt loved and found light. His father was difficult but he was present and did what he thought was best for his children. His mother was tough but loved as hard.

While it may not have been easy to grow up where and when he did, I have to wonder if he would have been the writer he is now had he not been exposed early and often to the incredible works his father made or tried to make him read and surrounded him with.

He writes equally eloquently about navigating the dangers of his neighborhood, his discovery of the Rap music coming out of NYC in the late 70's into the 80's, playing D&D, and watching wrestling.

He doesn't shy away from talking about how his father handled discipline (big leather belt). He doesn't shy away from owning his fears and shortcomings. He shares his journey from boy to man openly and powerfully.

And it was a glimpse into something I can't every fully understand as much as I want to, what it is like to walk the planet in the skin of a black man. There was an incident when he was in school where Ta-Nehisi says his grace in his body hadn't caught up with his growth and he bumped a teacher totally accidentally but it ended up with him being suspended for the altercation sparking a conversation with his father about having to be aware that jut by being a big guy in black skin he would be perceived as a threat even when he isn't.

In sharing his struggle to Knowledge I feel like he has taught me to better listen deeply and with care, a skill I am constantly looking to improve.

(Finished March 3, 2019)

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds

Jason Reynolds does it yet again!! He uses words to paint a picture, a picture of a slice of life that is authentic and not meant to make you comfortable but is guaranteed to make you feel and think. While not in the gut wrenching, rip your heart to shreds arena of Long Way Down and All American Boys When I Was the Greatest is powerful in its own right.

Ali is a 15 year old boy living in Brooklyn with his mom Doris and his little sister Jazz. As he tells his story we meet his best friend (only real friend) Noodles and his brother Needles. Needles has Tourettes and we learn as the story unfolds about the way this diagnosis has changed his family.

Ali's dad isn't exactly absent but he isn't exactly present either. Doris and John love each other and love their children but choices have consequences and John hasn't typically made the best choices and it cost him his family, at least living with them. Doris works six days a week at two jobs to make enough to provide for them alone. She works a full time 9-5 day job and has a night job too. So often it is a neighbor babysitting the kids when they are younger and Ali looking after Jazz once he is old enough. But Doris has set her kids up to succeed in the face of difficulty, she has drilled good manners and high expectations into them.

Noodles home life is not that way. His mother works a sketchy job, often leaving at odd hours and being gone for the night or a couple of nights. As Ali notices, there is never juice or soda at Noodle's home. Their friendship develops as Doris begins to feed Noodles and Needles from time to time and to allow Noodles to spend time in her home with her kids.

When John is in jail Doris puts Ali together with a neighbor man who steps in to be a strong male role model, teaches Ali boxing and pays him to do chores.

The neighborhood is as much a character in this story as the people who inhabit it. As the years pass the people in the neighborhood have learned about Needles and his "syndrome" and are more tolerant or and comfortable with his verbal outburst and tics than Noodles is.

The conflict (it's a Jason Reynolds book, you had to know there would be conflict) comes when the boys get to go to a party they have no business being at and things don't go well. But that is really just the breaking point for Ali. Leading up to that moment he is learning the painful lesson his mother has been telling him he would learn when it happens, there will come a point when you have to say enough is enough and end or alter relationships that are not healthy.

But this is also a loving story, a story of family, the ones we are born into and the ones we create for ourselves. And it is a reminder that happy endings look different for everyone.

And sometimes people burn the chicken.


One of the best things that Reynolds does in his writing is to make his characters feel like developed people, people who could be sitting next to you on a bus or in a classroom while giving children/teens who are people of color characters who look like them.

(Finished March 1, 2019)