New week, new books, new recs. Here we go, readers.
We've got two Tim McCarthy recs this week. First is his write-up for the latest from Midwestern favorite William Kent Krueger:
Fox Creek. Tim says: "This is the 19th volume in the Cork O'Connor mystery series, featuring the Northern Minnesota PI with both Irish and Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) heritage. In
Fox Creek, Krueger brings the focus back to Henry Meloux, a beloved Ojibwe friend and mentor to Cork who is well over 100 years old. A woman has come to Henry for help, not knowing that she’s been followed to his doorstep. He’ll need every ounce of his skill, vision, and enormous heart to lead her and the people he loves away from the forces on their trail. It may not be enough. Henry knows that one way or another his time to leave this life is near. When Krueger did a Boswell author event a few years back he told us that his indigenous fans say 'not bad for a white man' about the way he develops Ojibwe characters. I laughed and felt relieved to hear validation of my true fondness for these fictional people. I’m a fan!"
Tim takes a turn to the romantic side of things with his next write-up, which is for Bianca Marais's new novel, a paperback original called
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor: A Witchy Rom-Com Novel. Tim says: "Oh, man! By that I mean oh, how does a man review a book like this!? Let's start (and end) with the fact that I loved every minute. I loved the characters, and the plot twists, and the very verbal crow. Most of all, I loved the sense that Marais was having as much fun writing as I was reading about a sisterhood of glorious old witches with a long history in a town that’s been mostly ok with them, until something changes. Now their manor and their popular distillery are being attacked by a mob of irrational townsmen (go figure), and reliving their own tragic past could offer them either salvation or destruction. They’re not sure which. Enter the Mayor’s spiky-haired teenage daughter and her dog named Ruth Bader Ginsburg and you’ve got the setup for a lovely riot. So take a break from our very strange real world and pour yourself into this spellbound concoction of laughter and full-blown feminist power, mixed with suspense and dashes of potent wisdom likely to fly into my thoughts forevermore."
Next it's Rachel Copeland with a duo of recs for paperback original novels. The first is for
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. Rachel says: "Mika Moon is lonely; it's the reality of being a modern witch. When she's invited to a mysterious place called Nowhere House to tutor three young witches, she should refuse, but she doesn't. In a house run by a housekeeper, a groundskeeper and his retired actor husband, and a grumpy (and gorgeous) librarian for an absentee archeologist who fosters the girls, Mika is the only person who can help the girls control their magic. Now all Mika has to do is keep the girls' feet on the ground (literally!) and her heart guarded from something she shouldn't want - to love and be loved. Finally, a witch book that really nails it! The magic in this book is that perfect balance of wicca-ish and
Sabrina the Teenage Witch silliness, but the real winner is the human element of found family. Mandanna's writing is relentlessly charming - mark me down as devotee!"
Rachel also recommends
Love on the Brain, the latest from
The Love Hypothesis author Ali Hazelweood. Rachel says: Purple-haired scientist Bee Königswasser's big opportunity at NASA comes with one problem in the form of her project's co-lead, the man who hates her the most: Levi Ward. But when she confronts him about missing supplies and lack of email access, suddenly Levi is... nice? Helpful? Supportive? Surely this is some sort of bizarro world where Levi never hated Bee to begin with. I just need to know… how does Ali Hazelwood do it? By the end of the first page, I knew
Love on the Brain would be one of my favorite reads of the year. Every page is a delight, every character is wonderful - you just have to read this for yourself."
And now, we move to Chris Lee who suggests the fun for kids and their grown-ups picture book
Ghosts Are People Too by Peter Ricq. Chris says: "This is Edward Gorey by way of Nickelodeon; spooky, charming sketches of a ghost child who just wants to be your friend. Fair warning is due – a few of the illustrations could be a little much for more sensitive kids, but on the flip side of that, the book gets across a 'they’re just as afraid of you as you are of them' message. With bonus chapters on ghost detection and true tales of human/ghost interactions, this book is a great starting place for kids who are paranormal-curious."
And how about a paperback pick to wrap us up? Okay! You may like to know that as opposed to the paperback originals above, this is a previously-released-in-hardcover book just today getting its paperback release.
From Kay Wosewick, it's a recommendation of
What Storm, What Thunder, a novel by Myriam J A Chancy. Kay says: "The 2010 Haiti earthquake claimed a quarter-million-plus lives and forever changed millions of others. Chancy paints vivid images of chaos, devastation, horror, confusion, brutality, and regret, but also compassion, tenderness, and hope. Chancy distills extensive interviews into ten captivating, entwined stories that portray how seemingly similar traumatic experiences can have vastly different effects on individuals."
Thanks for once again entrusting us with your weekly reading. See you next week, and until then, read on dear readers.
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