It’s good to be home, dear readers. I have no idea what time it is, and I’m terribly, irrationally hungry, but it’s good to be back with the Books.
And what Books there are! We are in the early stages of a new fiscal year here at the Library, which means that there will soon be new books aplenty coming in. Best of all, we are the height of the summer reading season, which means no end of good things for those of you looking to take some books on your next vacation, beach retreat, or blanket fort hideaway. Because fiction books are quite popular this time of year, this week’s FBF (5BF?) features an all-fiction selection, to let your imaginations have a little adventure, as well!
The Perdition Score: If my previous hysteria over the Library’s acquisition of Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim series hasn’t convinced you to jump on the paranormal noir bandwagon, I can only hope that the release of the eighth book in this grim, gory, delightful carnival of a series might just do the trick. In this installment, Sandman Slim (aka James Stark) has returned from facing down Death, and is itching for some new messes to make, when he meets Thomas Abbot, the Augur of the Sub Rosa council, who needs his help searching for a missing boy. The search leads to an angel, whose dying confession sends Stark and his girl/sidekick/kick-ass companion Candy to the only place they never wanted to return: Hell. I wonder how much more I can say about this series without sounding like a weirdo groupie, so I’ll let Entertainment Weekly do it for me: “…Kadrey rips the skin off the real world, revealing the supernatural nerve endings and metaphysical meat underneath. And his prose couldn’t be more visceral if it were carved into flesh.”
Monsters: A Love Story: It’s no secret that I am a huge lover of The Romances, but there’s a lot to be said for those romances that don’t follow genre standards, that defy tropes, and that challenge our expectations of characters–Liz Kay’s latest book is just that kind of romance. Ever since her husband died eight months ago, poet Stacey Lane has been lost. So when she is asked to consult on the film-adaptation of her re-imagining of Frankenstein, she thinks this might be her chance to break out and live again. She never imagined that lead actor and worldwide heartthrob, Tommy DeMarco, would be quite so…attractive…and as Stacey shuffles between her predictable life in Omaha, and the kind of boozy fantasy life that Tommy offers, she begins to find new depths in herself…and in Tommy. Kay’s wit is absolutely acerbic here, to the extent that some readers have a hard time connecting with her characters. For those looking for something sharp, incisive, and blackly funny, however, this book may be just right for you. Library Journal loved it, giving it a starred review, and saying, “this fast-paced novel will have readers immersed in the heady feeling of an alcohol-fueled affair with one of the sexiest men alive.”
Ping-Pong Heart: Here is another book to make series fans cheer–the eleventh installment in Martin Limón’s historical(ish) mystery series featuring US Army CID Sergeants George Sueño and Ernie Bascom brings readers right back into the high-stakes world of espionage in 1970’s Korea. In this adventure, Major Frederick M. Schulz has accused Miss Jo Kyong-ja, an Itaewon bar girl, of stealing twenty-five thousandin local currency from him. It isn’t a huge amount, but when both Schulz and Jo are found dead, it’s clear there is far more to this story than meets the eye. And it isn’t long before George and Ernie find that the Major was involved in some pretty high-level Cold War intelligence, making a simple theft into something that could have global consequences. This is another book that Library Journal enjoyed, saying that new readers can jump right into this series here, and enthusing “Mystery readers who appreciate exotic settings, both in time and space, and who like quality buddy procedurals will admire Limón’s writing.”
The Swan Book: Part fairytale, part social commentary, part historical analysis, part futuristic fantasy, Alexis Wright’s novel takes Australia’s deeply troubled Aboriginal history head-on in this tale of discovery and loss, and the power of the human imagination. Oblivia Ethelyne was given her name by a Bella Donna, an elderly woman who found her hiding in a gum tree, wounded and terrified after being attacked. Bella Donna takes her to live on an old warship in a polluted dry swamp, a result of devastating climate change, and there, creates a new world for Oblivia through her stories about swans. In truth, the swamp is a kind of holding camp for Aboriginals (peoples native to Australia), and when Australia’s first Aboriginal president leads a march into the swap to bring the conditions there to light, Oblivia finds herself thrust into reality in a way she never before imagined. Critics worldwide have been hailing Wright’s work as a triumph of Australian literature and narrative creativity, and Publisher’s Weekly cheers, “Rarely does an author have such control of her words and her story: Wright’s prose soars between the mythical and the colloquial.”
Ink and Bone: For the record, this is one of my favorite titles of the month. Behind that title, though, is a dark, twisting tale of paranormal powers and friendship that may be a bit of a divergence for Lisa Unger, but one she handles with skill. Finley Montgomery is seldom alone, but rather than friends or family, she is haunted by faces no one else can see, and plagued by prophetic dreams that have her lurching awake and terrified. When her powers grow too strong, Finley turns to the one women who she knows can help: her grandmother Eloise Montgomery, a noted medium, who has been hired to solve the disappearance of a local girl. Even as the bond between Finley and Eloise grows, however, it becomes more and more clear that a power larger than both of them is looming ever closer….Unger is a master of suspense, and this new release has critics raving, with Booklist calling it, “Engrossing. . . the tension is palpable. Unger straddles the fine line between thriller and horror, making this a very exciting and riveting read, sure to appeal to a wide range of readers, including Kay Hooper or Stephen King fans.”
Until next week, beloved Patrons–happy reading!