The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. 2/5
The Dreamers is a lyrical account of the everyday actions and choices that cause a fictional pandemic in which victims fall asleep and can’t be woken, while experiencing intense dream activity; the human emotions and costs of such an event; and how choices become taken from us during high-fear times. This is a well-written novel, albeit lacking a certain amount of narrative tension other that causing the reader to ask, “who will be the next victim?” With somewhat better characterization, this question might have been, “what characters do I care about, and how am I invested in their status?” I was made uncomfortable by the author’s decision to have a sleeper become pregnant, resulting in the birth of her child while she sleeps, without anyone in the story questioning the woman’s desires; and certain aspects of characterization that I felt were stereotyping.
A Borrowing of Bones by Paula Munier. 4/5
A great first novel in what I hope becomes a series. Munier creates complex and interesting characters, both human and canine, in this story, which finds ex-MP Mercy Carr and retired sniffer dog Elvis and game warden Troy Warner and Newfoundland-mix Susie Bear in a thriller involving separatist movements, poachers, and artists in small-town Vermont. The book’s pacing is perfect, the logic is solid, and I felt pleasantly immersed in an area I knew little about. The dogs are well-written and neither too cute nor too anthropomorphized. I’m recommending this widely.
Driving to Geronimo’s Grave and Other Stories by Joe R. Lansdale. 5/5
This collection of some of Joe Lansdale’s short stories demonstrates why he’s such a popular author. These are beautifully-crafted, honest, evocative works, capturing a wide variety of voices and time periods. Including a story based on the real-life US Marshal Nat Love, a Lovecraftian tale of horror and discovery, and accounts of the defining moment of young people’s lives, this book is one to savor.
The Banshee of Machrae by Sonja Condit. 4/5
A well-crafted and evocative meditation of a novel on might-have-beens, what-ifs, and the nature of people to wonder what their lives could have been like but for one moment or decision. Each what-if centers around a single family, the Machraes, and what may have led to the death of young Kalen Machrae in multiple possible timelines, as narrated by his lover, as viewed by an outsider, as experienced by his family. Condit’s language is lovely: there are “kittens of flame” and an autumnal yard is a “sheet of copper.”
This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero. 4/5
I began This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us with eager anticipation–I really enjoyed Cantero’s two other English-language books. And while I felt that this got off to an uneven start, I found myself enjoying it more and more as it progressed. Adrian and Zooey Kimrean (a near-anagram of Kimerean, as they are a chimera) are sibling private investigators constantly fighting for control of the single body they share. Asked to investigate a mob killing, both sleuths make unique contributions and develop as individuals during the case. Cantero’s unorthodox mix of traditional prose and screenwriting formats makes for a quick and fun read, providing excellent descriptions and visual cues for readers. Overall, an eye-opening and manic joy ride.
The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel by Alyssa Palombo. 2/5
The author notes that this is her stab at a feminist retelling of Washington Irving’s famous tale of Sleepy Hollow, and while there isn’t a whole lot of nuance in that attempt–Katrina van Tassel has her own political opinions, chooses Ichabod Crane as her lover, and has a knowing midwife as a friend–it is passable. The story is pretty predictable from the start, and Katrina isn’t a particularly compelling character. Katrina is haunted from childhood by dreams of the Headless Horseman, and when her suitor Brom discovers that she’s in love with Ichabod, he dresses up as the phantom and kills the schoolmaster. By scrying, Katrina discovers this after she has married Brom to cover up the fact that she’s pregnant by Ichabod, and finally the Horseman comes for Brom.
The Leaving Year by Pam McGaffin. 3/5
A high-schooler learns that adults have lives besides just being parents. The diversity of characters is a good thing, but none of the characters are particularly memorable or interesting. Appropriate for late elementary school students and middle grades; although written with high-school age characters, they are all young for their ages, perhaps an artifact of the book’s 1967 setting, or the author’s lack of desire for more complex and mature characters.
Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit by Amy Stewart. 5/5
Amy Stewart continues her smart and engaging series about Constance Kopp and her sisters with aplomb in Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit. Imagining a life for the Kopps, who really did live in New Jersey in the 1910s, Stewart recreates the atmosphere and attitudes of the time to a T, giving readers a well-researched historical novel with great characters and incorporating issues that resonate even today.
