14:100 The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

 Cora Seaborne is a new widow who feels that she can finally breathe and start being true to herself after all the years being ground under her husband's heel. Having a scientific bent, she is entranced by the idea of the Essex Serpent that some claim to have seen near a small village so she, her son, and her son's nanny head there to check it out. What she finds is more than a mere prehistoric creature could have dreamed up.

The book was slow and trying too hard to be too many things so it only sort of succeeded at some of them. Cora is supposed to be the main character but I found her cold and immature but somehow teeming with friends and people fawning after her which made no sense to me.  The Reverend needed some good shakes and his wife and children deserved the sympathy as did Cora's other suitor. There were a few side characters that were more interesting and were given some good story lines but I just felt it wasn't enough. The author was trying too hard to draw out the suspense and make the story super complex but I think making the main character a little more likeable with a few less bad choices would have made it more enjoyable.

Page count: 433p/3,652p ytd/351,042p lifetime

13:100 Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

The play based on the Greek myth of the same name and eventually turned into the musical My Fair Lady. 

Eliza, a girl who sells flowers on the street, is taken in by Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering in a bet to see if Higgins can teach her how to speak and act like a lady. 

I've lost track of how many times I've seen the movie with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn and since much of the dialogue in the play was used in the movie, it wasn't really a new take on what I knew until we got to the author's notes at the end where we get his impression of what would have happened with Eliza after. The movie deliberately leaves it vague after she returns to the Professor's house after their row at his mother's.  I can't say that I was a fan of what the author thought would happen after, Eliza marrying Freddy and their starting a flower shop with her doing much of the work to support them both (with a lot of help from Col. Pickering) but at the same time, considering the time period that was probably the likely outcome.

Page count: 96p/ 3,219p ytd/350,609p lifetime

6:100 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simpson

 Major Ernest Pettigrew grew-up in Edgecomb St. Mary's, had a military career, and then returned after he retired. He lives in the house he grew up in, having inherited it from his parents, married and raised his son there. He is that Englishman, concerned with doing everything properly as it has always been done, keeping up appearances, and concerned with honor and duty. With his wife dead and his son living in London, he putters around his house taking care of the upkeep and reading, golfing with friends, and going on the occasional hunt. Then his brother dies and his regular world is turned upside down when he starts up an unlikely friendship with the owner of a local shop, Mrs. Ali, who lost her husband several years ago as well. Through a common interest in books and the shared experience of both being widows, the friendship starts growing into something more. However, he being of the old-blood in the village and she being a foreigner no matter how long she has lived there makes this a relationship that no one deems appropriate. Everything says this relationship can't work but will they listen?

Read for book club and really enjoyed it although the Major gets pompous enough and stodgy enough that times I really wanted to reach in and shake him. Yes, it's understandable and totally realistic (I've known enough people like him in many ways) but still....LOL  It was a lovely story, moved well, good characters, and a satisfying ending. 

Page count: 379p/1,402p ytd/348,783p lifetime

95:100 Shocking Elation by Stefon Mears

Cleon Johnson is an artist who creates more than a simple visual medium for people to enjoy. For those with implants, his art is keyed in to let them feel the emotions that he wants to convey in ways that mere words or images cannot possibly convey. He wakes on this morning of an artist's reception ready to face his adulation upon the opening of his newest exhibit only to find instead that he forgot to run some processes correctly and the people that went through it already have suffered horribly and the world that once couldn't get enough of his art was now ready to cancel him completely.

An interesting take on where technology can take us in the future and also how careful and mindful we need to learn to be when using it.



Page count: 22p/22,733p ytd/331,430p lifetime

91:100 Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi

Firdus grew up poor in Egypt and learned early on that men were the only ones who mattered in society.  She wanted to go to school and her uncle helped her but she soon found out that, again, she was subject to the whims of the man her ruled her life. She was thrown out because of the jealousy of her uncle's wife and now must learn how to survive on the streets as a woman in a patriarchal society. It's not long before she realizes that without a husband, her prospects are limited and she ends up a prostitute. Rather than diminishing her though, she is able to realize her own power in that position and is able to be beholden to no one until a man comes in and decides he will now be her pimp. Firdus can only take it so long before she kills him in order to reclaim her own agency. As a result, she is sentenced to death. This is a man's world after all and her agency does not matter.

A true story told by Firdus as she sat on death row. She wanted no clemency, since to have that was to give up her agency again and she would prefer death. Firdus suffers constantly due to the men around her but because she is a woman, that is her "place".  A moving and powerful story that is too familiar to too many women around the world. I can't say I enjoyed it because it's a hard read but it was gripping and important.


Page count: 142p/22,239p ytd/330,936p lifetime

85:100 Kingdom of Needle and Bone by Mira Grant

So many people had been immunized that herd immunity became taken for granted. Then the anti-vax movement came and the herd immunity weakened and we started seeing diseases we thought had been wiped out forever make small comebacks.

Then came Morris's Disease which was new but presented like measles even in an immunized little girl who had a pediatrician for an aunt.  A little girl who became ill while visiting DisneyWorld with her parents and didn't want to miss out on a second of her last day so didn't let them know her throat hurt or she felt bad.  A little girl who then flew home while she was burning up and ran into her aunt's arms at the airport.

A little girl who died after infecting who knows how many people.

After the pandemic has spread and the dead mourned, the living are trying to put things back together again and that's when the awful truth starts coming out about the side effects of Morris's Disease and Dr. Isabella Gauly, the aunt of the little girl, is one of the first to be told.  She has a plan that may not be entirely legal or ethical but may give the human race a chance for survival and herself a chance for atonement.

As always, Mira Grant knocks it out of the park in doing the research and adding in the medical details to make this truly horrifying in a "this shit could really happen" kind of way with characters that are both sympathetic and complex and that twist at the end to drive things home.


Page count: 128p/21,498p ytd/330,195p lifetime

82:100 Emergency Landing by Seanan McGuire

Another day, another flight, a woman wondering what her seat mates are going to be like this time and if they will leave her alone so she can nap.  A routine take-off until she sees missile-like objects falling on Atlanta and feels the plane jolt like it's being pushed off the group.  Now they are up in the air and the reports from her colleagues who work with the CDC are coming in and the news is devastating.  She alone on the plane understands what is happening down on the ground and now she must decide where they go from here.

Absolutely terrifying tale of something that seems all too plausible these days.

Page count: 22p/20,836p ytd/329,533p lifetime 

79:100 The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

Bobbie, Peter, and Phyllis have had a lovely life as a middle class family in the early 1900s.  Father works but spends time with them in the evenings, mother is always around and making up stories and playing with them, and there are servants that attend to the mundane tasks.  Until one evening some men come and father goes away with them and the next day they have to pack up and move away from the city.  Now there are no servants and mother tells them that they are poor and she must write and hope to sell her stories to keep them fed and there are many days where there is just toast and jam to eat. Now the children don't go to school and must find ways to amuse themselves so they explore this new town of their and are constantly drawn to the Railway which provides many adventures and surprises along the way.

Definitely a book from another era so I tried to read it with that in mind and leave the bulk of my modern day thinking out of it.  The children wandering all over the town so much by themselves were fine and I do think the bits about the general kindness of the people there was appropriate given the time but having the old gentleman from the train solve all the problems and just happen to be the grandfather of the boy they rescue....a bit too deus ex machina for my tastes but I know that was common enough in these types of tales at the time.  In all, a sweet story of a bygone age.


Page count: 156p/20,347p ytd/329,044p lifetime

73:100 The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

It's 1952 and a meteorite has just struck the ocean outside of the Eastern Seaboard wiping out Washington DC, New York, and pretty much anything else within a few miles of the coastline.  Elma York and her husband were on a weekend getaway when it happened, far enough away that they felt the shockwaves but far enough away that they were able to get to their small plane and escape when so many others couldn't.  Now the world is trying to rebuild and the conclusions coming back are frightening.  While things will settle down in the short-term, global warming (a term never before heard of) will happen in a few decades due to all the particulate matter thrown up in the atmosphere from the meteorite.  What used to be a fun idea of getting into space is now imperative for the survival of the human race and Elma York, a mathematician and WASP pilot, is determined that women will be included in the program, especially herself.

An interesting idea, fairly well executed, although I could have done with a little better explanation as to what was actually up with Elma and her anxiety earlier in the story and a lot less of how much she and her husband are into each other. 


Page count: 432p/19,333p ytd/328,028p lifetime

70:100 Coffee & Treason by Stefon Mears

Basic spy v spy short story.  American spy gets a lead on a Russian spy who may be getting some state secrets from a White House intern and he's in position to try and get the info to send everyone to jail but things never work out quite like you plan.

Page count: 21p/18,464p ytd/327,159p lifetime

68:100 War and Marketing by Stefon Mears

Derek has always been shy and quiet but he also has a special gift for finding things.  What that means in practical terms is that he has made a nice living finding paintings or other items that people want and will pay nicely for which makes him a comfortable living.  However, recently Earth has been at war with an alien species and Derek wants it to stop before this planet is destroyed.  So he starts asking himself the question, "what do the aliens want?" and his gift finds him the answer as always.

A fun little story about how things aren't always as they seem.


Page count: 21p/18,073p ytd/326,768p lifetime

57:100 Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Where Hercule Poirot goes murder seems to follow.  This time he is on a train from Istanbul heading home (or to his next case as he gets a telegram on the train) when one of the passengers has been murdered, stabbed to death many times over but luck is with him as this happened on the night when the train has been stuck in a snow storm and no way for the murderer to escape so Poirot waxes his mustache and sets to work to find out whose done it.

This was my first Agatha Christie novel and I don't know if it's because at this point it's not a novel ending or because so much of what Poirot lays out at the end is not really revealed through the course of the investigation.  You can't go back and go, gee, of course that is how it all fits together, and that type of "mystery" doesn't really appeal to me.  I'm not sure if her other books all follow this same thing but I'll probably give another one a try at some point to find out.


Page count: 265p/15,891p ytd/324,586p lifetime

52:100 Closing the Zoo by Stefon Mears

"Snake" may be living off the royalties of his one big hit but music is still his passion and he never wants it to end.  So when his band mates come in, late again, for practice and tell him that it's over, Snake is determined to find a way to hook them back in.

A lovely little story of what happens when your passion for the music remains long after the rest of the world has moved past your sound.


Page count: 26p/12,212p ytd/322,907p lifetime

49:100 Sourdough by Robin Sloan

Lois Clary is living the Bay Area start-up "dream". She is heavily invested in her job and enjoys it but it leaves her with no time for anything outside of work, even eating.  She has been starting to live on Slurry, a nutritionally dense but flavorless goo, when she sees a flyer for Clement Street Soup and Sourdough with the most unusual menu.  You could pick spicy soup, spicy sandwich, or combo (double spicy).  She called and placed an order for the double spicy and it changed her life.  The food was amazing and the bread was nothing short of heavenly.  Soon she was ordering constantly but when the brothers who ran the place had to move, they presented her with the sourdough starter and a copy of the music that needed to be played for the start to work its magic.

Now Lois instead of doing nothing but programming a robotic arm at work is learning how to bake and everyone is commenting on how amazing her bread is.  It's so good, she tries to get a place at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market but instead of getting in there, she is instead invited to join a different, more secret market.  Now she is mixing her programming skills for the robotic arm, the music, and the sourdough and creating something truly special...or is she?

I enjoyed this book soooo much!  The story was fun and light but with darker undertones and the characters were well written and engaging.  I didn't realize this was the same author who had written Mr. Penumbra's 24-hr Book Store which I also loved but I think I will now be following him to grab anything new he writes as I've loved everything I've read so far.



Page count: 272p/11,525p ytd/322,220p lifetime

47:100 Lucky Day by Stefon Mears

Carl is just a hitchhiking college student on his way back home for break.  He was so thankful when she pulled over to offer him a ride.

Next thing he knows, he's hanging by his wrists in chains with no memory of what happened to him or the lady who picked him up.  A car accident?  But where is he and why?

A fun little suspense tale.


Page count: 24p/11,169p ytd/321,864p lifetime

43:100 The City Born Great by N.K. Jemisin

Human habitations start out small, they turn into town, and then maybe into cities.  Once a city is big enough though, it must be born through the efforts a midwife who will sing it into being.  It's a sacred trust as there are forces out there that can't stand the thought of new life being created and will do everything possible to stop it and the midwives are few and do not always know their own power.

An interesting concept and world building short story.


Page count: 26p/10,353p ytd/321,048p lifetime

41:100 The Final Survey of Andrei Kreutzmann by Stefon Mears

Andrei is an explorer and surveyor.  He's just come across a planet that looks rich enough to set him up for the rest of his life, get his shipped spruced up, and he's hoping maybe even repair his relationship. 

And then he's ordered to do a suicide survey in the middle of an enemy fleet.  Some days it just doesn't pay to answer your comms.

A space-military short story.  Ok for what it was but not my taste in genre.


Page count: 20p/10,177p ytd/321,052p lifetime

40:100 On the Side by Seanan McGuire

The racists have won (hopefully temporarily) but for now, any culture other than what those people have deemed as "American" has been banned slowly but surely.  Clothes, cuisine, arts, anything that they don't feel is white-bred American is out.  Trying to stamp out the culture since they hadn't yet been able to actually stamp out the people themselves. Of course, that just means that it is hidden (and those white-bred racists don't get to enjoy it).  Enter in the covert food trucks like the one that Avi and Preeda run.  Buying forbidden ingredients to make forbidden dishes and bribing the police with free food (even if that food is technically illegal).  Maybe some day things will get better but in the meantime, you can still get a good curry if you know where to go.

A bleak outlook at the kind of America some people want and how much of our identity we stand to lose if these ideologies are taken to extremes.



Page count: 20p/10,157p ytd/321,032p lifetime

32:100 Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Esperanza has an envious life.  The only child of a rich ranch owner in Mexico, doted on by her parents, lots of pretty dresses, education, servants, etc.  Yes, it is an idyllic life and one Esperanza can't imagine changing until one day it does. Her father is murdered by bandits and according to her uncle, everything but the house is left to him.  Her mother has the house but without the income from the ranch, there is no way to keep it so her uncle, her father's brother, says he will marry her mother but both she and her mother know that he is a cruel man and they would be separated.  So instead, they choose to run and hide all the way to America.  Some of the family servants are going and offer them a place with them and their family that has already been established in CA working as crop pickers.  It will be a hard life, harder than either of them has known, but at least they have the chance to stay together and free.  They had no way of knowing that they were immigrating right during the start of what would later be known as the Great Depression.

A beautifully done tale of heartache and love, despair and hope, telling a tale that too often goes untold of why people immigrate and the hardships they face.  This is something I think there needs to be greater visibility and discussion of and let us remember that first of all, these are humans who are deserving of respect and compassion.

Page count: 304p/8,060p ytd/318,945p lifetime

30:100 Love in the Last Days of a Doomed World by Seanan McGuire

Sharon is the smart one, the good child but not the good girl, and her parents treated her as such. Her brother gets the comic books from their dad but he doesn't think to bring them for her.  When she asks her brother about them, she learns about how Superman came to earth after being placed in a rocket from Krypton when their planet was dying.  Not very realistic she thinks. So when a stranger who seems familiar comes up to her at the library and drops a piece of paper on her book and walks away, she looks at it and finds an equation.  Now that is something she can sink her teeth into.  That equation leads her to places she could never have imagined but now that she has started down that path, she can understand Superman's parents better.  The planet is dying and there is no rocketship to save any of them....or could there be?

A patreon short story by Seanan McGuire and one of her more depressing ones as I look around at our world today.



Page count: 20p/7,398p ytd/318,283p lifetime