Tuesday Book Review

Five-star review of Wizard of Most Wicked Ways (Whimbrel House Book 4) by Charlie N. Holmberg

This is another great entry in the Whimbrel House stories from one of my favorite recent fantasy authors. It continues the story of Owein as well as Merritt and Hulda. Owein is contractually promised to Lady Cora, a British noble, but is torn between her and Fallon, a shapeshifting Druid from Ireland. Meanwhile, Merritt and Hulda are raising three daughters in Whimbrel House on Blaugdone Island in Narragansett Bay. But first, they must all deal with the return of their old enemy, Silas Hogwood who is bent on revenge. Hogwood might not have all the magical abilities he had before in his last body, but it’ll take all their combined might with help from Queen Victoria’s League of Magicians. Many of the characters from the other books appear, and the children only add to the fun moments and show the soft sides, especially of Merritt and Owein. 

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Five-star review of Operation Hail Mary, a Novel by Andy Weir

What would you do if you suddenly woke up on a starship far from Earth with no memory of how you got there or what you were supposed to do? That’s what happens to junior high school science teacher  Ryland Grace to start this story. As gradual, and mostly chronological memories return, he becomes familiar with his ship, his two (dead) companions and the task they were sent to perform. And they’re not alone. I enjoyed this story more than The Martian because there was so much hard science rather than plodding determinations of how many potatoes to plant and execution of that plan. The mechanics of the ship, the astronomy involved and so many more aspects of how Grace tried to accomplish his goal were fascinating to me. But it’s also a story about first contact and friendship, and what that means. I loved the characters, the way their minds worked and how their skills complemented each other. Can we please have another book with Grace and Rocky? I listened to the audiobook, which was very well done.

Tuesday Book Review

 

Four-star review of Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

This period piece, written in 1950, reflects life, especially for unmarried women, in post-war London. It also reflects the style of writing that was created in that time as well as the dry humor that we still see sometimes today in British stories. Mildred Lathbury, a woman in her early thirties, is the daughter of a clergyman who lives alone and works in the mornings at an agency that helps impoverished gentlewomen. We never learn what she does there. She is certain on a practical level that she will never marry yet daydreams about the men she meets. They include Father Julian Mallory from the nearby High Anglican church she attends; Rocky Napier who moves into the apartment below hers with his wife Helena; and Helena’s fellow archaeologist Everard Bone. The title refers to the unmarried women who help men with chores, do grunt work for the churches and are mostly unseen. Nothing significant happens in the novel, but it makes an interesting read.