Mini Reviews of Short Story Collections: How Strange a Season & Sword Stone Table

Megan Mayhew Bergman is a short story writer whose previous two collections received great acclaim. I really enjoyed her 2015 collection Almost Famous Women, so I was intrigued to see what she would do in this book as she wrote about women who are learning to chase what they want and overcome tradition and history. While these aren't connected stories, I have the feeling that a discerning reader who read through the collection a second or third time would find a lot of threads to follow. 

In "Wife Days," Farrah negotiates with her husband for some days to just be her own person instead of following his whims, or those of her trainer or family. After Holland's girlfriend leaves for a research project, Lily decides to take on her own project with a conservation group in North Carolina and tries to come to terms with her mother leaving their family when she was young in "A Taste for Lionfish." Bergman's novella "Indigo Run" might be my favorite piece in the collection. Helena-Raye Glass finds herself unexpectedly pregnant and married as Skip Spangler considers selling her family home generations later. Each of these protagonists is wondering what it would mean and what it would feel like to put themselves first, to follow their own desires, and to leave the burden of care and the expectations of others behind them.

How Strange A Season
By Megan Mayhew Bergman
Scribner March 2022
320 pages
Read via Netgalley 

In the introduction to Sword Stone Table, editors Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington wrote about their search for Arthurian retellings. They wanted tales that bent the race or gender of the characters, or introduced queer characters to these beloved stories. So they set out to create their own, and asked sixteen writers to contribute their own takes on Arthur and the Stone Table. Writers from Sarah MacLean to Alexander Chee said yes, and Sword Stone Table came to life.

As with almost any collection of short stories, I found some stories excellent and some only okay. The authors set their tales either in the past (once), the present, or the future. Roshani Chokshi reveals a new side to the tale of Elaine and Lancelot in "Passing Fair and Young," Waubgeshig Rice places a young Arthur in an Anishinaabeg community where he learns about his culture and traditions from his mysterious Uncle Merle in "Heartbeat," and Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes of a woman in a a tower many years in the future who savors memories from a beautiful young man she calls Lancelot in "A Shadow in Amber." There are two kinds of readers who will be wowed by this collection--people who are looking for new-to-them science fiction and fantasy authors, and those who are die-hard Arthurian nerds. Kudos to the editors and writers for bringing new life to these well-loved stories and characters.

Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices 

Edited by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington 

Vintage July 2021

480 pages

Read via Netgalley 

Review: When Women Were Dragons

Alex Green is a girl who is growing up in the 1950s. She is navigating many familiar things--going to school, having a first crush, fending off an overly protective mother, and looking out for her younger sister. But in this version of America, things are a little different than you might expect. On a seemingly normal day, thousands of women suddenly turned into dragons and flew away, including Alex's Aunt Marla. Alex's "sister" Beatrice is actually her cousin, but no one is allowed to talk about the women who turned into dragons or the pain and confusion their leaving caused. Alex sets out to find the answers about just what happened that day, for herself, for her aunt, and for her beloved Beatrice who is showing signs of becoming a dragon like her mother.

For readers who like all of the answers, this might be a frustrating experience. Alex's own failed attempts as a child and young adult to get more information are interspersed with a scientist's reports as he tries to research the phenomenon of turning into a dragon and is thwarted at every turn by politicians and other scientists who want to keep everyone in the dark. But it rings very true to that experience of knowing that something bigger is going on and having your questions ignored because you're not old enough, or it doesn't concern you. 

Kelly Barnhill's writing is excellent. She clearly depicts the anger of a girl and then a woman who is kept from answers, left without support, and then belittled as she tries to use her intellect and skills. This is obviously a book about feminism and female anger. In America in May 2022, when women are dealing with parenting during a multi-year pandemic, a formula shortage, multiple mass shootings, and the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade, many of us are very angry. Reading When Women Were Dragons can give readers hope that they are not the only ones who are angry; in fact, women have been angry for a very long time. But it also reminds us that we aren't alone, and that we can make bold choices to protect and defend ourselves and the women we love. 

When Women Were Dragons
By Kelly Barnhill
Doubleday Books May 2022
352 pages
Read via Netgalley 

Mini Reviews: The Perishing and Long Division

Lou is a Black teenager who wakes up in a Los Angeles alley, with no idea who she is or how she got there. She is arrested and ultimately placed with a foster family. Years later, she lands a job writing newspaper obituaries for people who are often ignored. She also makes friends with a Chinese-American actress named Esther. The girls spend many of their days at Esther's father's boxing gym and that is where Lou sees a Black fireman named Jefferson Clayton. Lou has never met Jefferson, but she realizes that she has been drawing his face for years. 

We know early on that Lou is not like other people; she is immortal and this life is just one of many she has lived. But Natashia Deón does such an excellent job of planting us firmly in Los Angeles in the 1930s that the more fantastical elements and the flashes of Lou's other lives are jarring. The Perishing takes elements you think you've read before, and uses them to ask if a timeline exists where we finally stop ignoring the pain and trauma of people of color. 

The Perishing

By Natashia Deón
Counterpoint LLC November 2021
304 pages
Read via Netgalley

City Coldson is going to stay out of the limelight for a while. After an on-air meltdown at the 2013 Can You Use That Word in a Sentence finals, he is sent to stay with his grandmother in the small town of Melahatchie, Mississippi. Before he leaves, he starts reading a book called Long Division, The book has no author listed, and the main character is also named City Coldson. The City in the book lives in 1985 and finds out that he can travel through time. When the character in the book encounters a girl named Baize Shephard and City discovers that a girl of the same name in present-day Melahatchie has gone missing, it's clear that things are about to get strange. 

Long Division is a book where you have to be content with not always understanding what is going on. City (and Kiese Laymon) are not concerned with explaining things to you or making you comfortable; they're just telling you how things are. The characters mirror Laymon's precision with both the construction of story and the words used to tell that story. On one level, this is the story of a teenage boy navigating who he wants to be alongside friends, enemies, and first loves. On a totally different level, City is trying to find out where and when he belongs in a world that is not kind to Black boys--even when he is allowed to compete in the competition, he is seen as a "token minority" and assigned the word niggardly. Long Division is unlike any story you've read before. 

Long Division

By Kiese Laymon

Scribner June 2021

301 pages

Read via Netgalley 

Review: Where There's a Whisk

Peyton Sinclaire can't quite believe that she is a competitor on the TV show Top Teen Chef. The winner will get a full ride to any American Culinary Institute and for Peyton, it would mean the chance to leave her family troubles and small town life behind. The story starts right in the midst of the action, as Peyton walks on set for the first time and the camera crew captures her reaction to the beautiful appliances and fully-stocked pantry. They also record her walking right into the swinging doors that lead to set. 

We all know that reality shows are not all that real. Peyton and her fellow competitors know that too, but they are trying to impress the judges, impress the audience, and maybe even make a friend or two along the way. The show begins with eight competitors and each one has a type--one is a vegan surfer boy, another is an Italian teen from New Jersey, and there is even a girl whose family is cooking royalty. While it might seem a bit obnoxious to have such obvious types, it certainly rings true for a reality show where each contestant would be encouraged to play along with a specific narrative. 

Sarah Schmitt does a great job of writing characters who want to be authentic, but also want to win a competition where perception is at least as important as your plating skills. Their frustration is palpable when they are required to act in ways that aren't natural to them, and Peyton is the most devastated of all when she discovers the show will be portraying her as the "rags to riches" girl whose father is in jail. 

Sometimes you need to read a book that my dad would call "fluffy;" the stakes are relatively low and you know that everyone will learn something and end up with a somewhat happy ending. This story is fun, moves quickly, and the reader truly feels that they are on set alongside the teens, scrambling to finish each challenge on time. If you love binging The Great British Baking Show or trying to perfect your pie recipe on the weekends, Where There's a Whisk is the perfect book for you. 

Where There's a Whisk
By Sarah J. Schmitt
Running Press Kids October 2021
400 pages
Read via Netgalley 

Prayer When You Don't Have The Words: Mini Reviews of To Light Their Way and A Rhythm of Prayer

When Kayla Craig's daughter was three years old, she was hospitalized with a respiratory virus. Sitting by her bedside, Craig discovered that she could not find the words to pray. When a friend sent her a book of prayers, she found comfort in praying words that had already been laid out for her. As she continued to raise her children, she found many moments when she just did not have the words for the joy or sorrow or doubt she was experiencing. So she wrote a collection of prayers for parents, for the ones who are overwhelmed, for those smiling and crying as they send their little love off to kindergarten for the first time, and for the ones who are feeding a baby in those dark early morning hours.

This collection of prayers and liturgies is beautiful and varied. Craig writes in the introduction that these are not prayers that ignore reality; instead, she includes prayers for the one who parents alone, a prayer for receiving a diagnosis, and one for when your child is the bully. Some are meant for a caregiver to pray by themselves, and others are meant to read with your child. There are even simple breath prayers intended to help parents connect with God in the midst of school pickup, getting everyone to practice, and ensuring every child has brushed their teeth. To Light Their Way is a beautiful reminder that it is ok to not always have the words, and it would be a fantastic gift to give to any parent or caregiver. 

To Light Their Way
A Collection of Prayers and Liturgies for Parents 
By Kayla Craig
Tyndale Momentum October 2021
240 pages
Read via Netgalley

Sarah Bessey had a similar moment of not knowing how to pray. She recalled the prayer circles of her youth, missing both the confidence of knowing that others were praying for her and the many different ways they reached out to God. Bessey asked a group of women who teach and challenge her to contribute prayers to this collection. These prayers are not necessarily meant to be read and repeated verbatim.  Instead, they are intended to inspire you to find your own new ways to pray. 

The prayers in this book are angry cries about injustice or a guided prayer for when you don't know what you want. Some selections are not prayers themselves; they are letters to a future self or musings on the power of a mother or grandmother's prayers. One of the prayers in this book even sparked controversy when the Black author prayed that God would just let her hate white people instead of having her heart broken over and over by people who won't address their racism. It is good for us to be reminded that prayer doesn't have to look just one way and sometimes the anger or grief we feel is uncomfortable to confess. A Rhythm of Prayer is exactly this reminder and a powerful tool for anyone who calls out to God. 

A Rhythm of Prayer
A Collection of Meditations for Renewal
Edited by Sarah Bessey
Convergent Books February 2021
176 pages
Read via Netgalley 

Review: Wicked As You Wish

Tala Warnock is eager to leave her small town in Arizona, and use her ability to negate magic on more than her father's training exercises. She didn't expect the wider world and powerful magic to show up on her doorstep when Alex, a prince in hiding, moves in down the street. No one is supposed to know who he is, but the appearance of the legendary Firebird tells everyone just where they can find the heir to the throne of Avalon. Tala and Alex must team up a group of talented magic-users known as the Order of the Bandersnatch to claim his throne and restore magic to the world. 

Books are often about family dynamics or about a hero or heroine assembling a group of friends to fight alongside. Wicked As You Wish does both, with teens who can transform into animals or wield a magic whip and a family of magic-wielding martial artists. And that's not the only balance Chupeco strikes--she writes about experiences with immigration and genocide while naming her chapters things like In Which Carly Rae Jepsen Songs Make Excellent Training Tools and In Which Someone Gets Slapped Because of Dante's Divine Comedy. 

Rin Chupeco might be one of the most audacious fantasy writers working today. If you have a favorite fairy tale or myth, it probably appears between the covers of this book. There are aspects of Alice in Wonderland, King Arthur, Russian folklore, and Filipino mythology, to name just a few. There is a lot going on here, and readers may just have to hold on and enjoy the ride. It's a lot of fun (and a lot to keep track of), but I hope later books will develop some of the characters further and give us some more insight into the different kinds of magic. 

Wicked As You Wish

(A Hundred Names for Magic #1)
By Rin Chupeco
Sourcebooks October 2021
432 pages
Read via Netgalley 

Mini Reviews of Books in Translation: Where You Come From and The Pastor

A man applies for German citizenship, and one of the requirements is to write a short history detailing where they lived before and why they want to live in Germany. Our narrator writes a few sentences and discovers they are all wrong. What follows is a meandering, imaginative look at how we define ourselves and our histories and how to talk about a home that no longer exists.

Stanišić has written a somewhat autobiographical novel about a man, much like himself, who grapples with his family history in the former country of Yugoslavia. He writes about going back to his family's home and finding that things are very much the same and very different. He realizes that his grandmother's memory is fading, and any chance to learn the stories of his ancestors will be lost along with it. This book jumps from half-formed memories of the past to musings about the present, and even has a choose-your-own-adventure portion towards the end. It is written in a way that may be difficult for Americans to read, but it will be very familiar to people with a father or grandmother who likes to tell stories that start in one place and wander far and wide before concluding. 

Where You Come From
By Saša Stanišić

Translated by Damion Searls
Tin House December 2021
364 pages
Read via Netgalley

Liv is a pastor in a small Norwegian town. Her life is somewhat quotidian--she plans her sermon for the upcoming week, thinks about the impact of words and colonial history, and eats meals with the family that lives downstairs. Liv is desperately trying to help the people in her small town navigate the ups and downs of life, while grieving her own loss. The Pastor is a tale of a woman searching for sure footing in her faith, in her community, and in the endless, freezing landscape that surrounds them all.

This is a story with more feeling and memory than plot. Liv spends a lot of time wondering "what if?" She wonders if she could have saved her friend, she wonders if she will have an impact on these people she is ministering to, and she wonders how she can use words to bring meaning to this life. This quiet novel takes place over just one week, as Liv ponders the injustices of a local indigenous rebellion in the 19th century, working in a male-dominated field, and losing a loved one to suicide. If you are looking for a slow, thoughtful read for dark, cold winter nights, this might be the perfect choice for you. 

The Pastor

By Hanne Ørstavik

Translated by Martin Aitken

Archipelago Books October 2021

280 pages

Read via Netgalley 

Review: When Two Feathers Fell From The Sky

Two Feathers is one of the last horse divers in the United States. World War I has ended and Wild West shows are not as popular as they once were. Two Feathers is thankful to have a regular job leaping into a pool astride her horse Ocher at the Glendale Park Zoo in Nashville, Tennessee. She's also thankful that her fellow employees are starting to feel more like family than colleagues, like Crawford, a black man who carefully tries not to overstep any perceived boundaries; the groundskeeper Clive, who is fighting his own demons from the war; and her boarding house friends Frannie and Marty, sisters who amaze the crowds with their spinning plate routine. 

One day, Two's dive goes terribly wrong. She is injured, and strange things begin happening at the park--animals fall ill, people see ghosts on the grounds, and Two receives letters from a secret admirer who might not have good intentions. 

When Two Feathers Fell From The Sky reminds readers that the boundaries between past and present are not as solid as we imagine them to be. Glendale is built on a Native American burial ground, and Two has a ghost from long ago who watches over her. The characters know that they are fortunate to have jobs and relative safety, but they also understand that the white people who come to the park view them as "exotic" or "dangerous," and it would take very little for their carefully constructed worlds to fall down. 

Verble tries to cover a lot of ground in this book, as she focuses on the challenges faced by Native Americans, people of color, and war veterans within the same book. There are moments of tragic reality, and others when it seems perfectly possible that the dead and the living might occupy the same space. At times, it felt like Verble threw in extra historical references for the sake of it, but she truly evokes a specific time and place in this book. When Two Feathers Fell From The Sky is an engaging read and a story unlike any I've encountered before. 

When Two Feathers Fell From The Sky
By Margaret Verble
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt October 2021
384 pages
Read via Netgalley

Mini Reviews: Stranger Care and Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger

Sarah and Eric Sentilles make the decision not to have a biological child. Instead, they go through the long and intense process of becoming foster parents. They are thrilled to finally get a call about fostering a baby girl named Coco. The couple welcomes her into their home and makes her a part of their family. And so begins the painful process of getting to know and love a child who was, as Sarah points out, "never ours, yet we belong to each other." 

Stranger Care is a difficult, but important, read. Sentilles is honest about the roller coaster of emotions that she experienced as she came to love this child while also knowing that Coco would likely be reunified with her family. Is it possible to love a child and prepare to let them go at the same time? Sarah and Eric bond with Coco's mother Evelyn and cheer her on as she tries to overcome a drug addiction and find a steady job. In other moments, they quietly hope that Evelyn will fail so they can keep the little girl who has captured their hearts. Stranger Care is an unflinching look at the complications of our foster care system, the lack of staff and resources to care for these children, and the uneasy compromises that biological and foster parents make as they try to do what is best for a child they love. 

Stranger Care

A Memoir of Loving What Isn't Ours

By Sarah Sentilles 
Random House May 2021
400 pages
Read via Netgalley 

Lisa Donovan went from waiting tables in a small-town Italian restaurant to working as a pastry chef with some of the most influential American chefs. Her journey there was not an easy one--she finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, leaves an abusive boyfriend, and works in kitchens that won't pay her fairly and would rather not have women there at all. Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger is the story of Donovan's realization that professional kitchens are often toxic and unsustainable, and her decision to strike out on her own and find a way to be recognized (and make a living) making good food with good people. 

Donovan is a particular kind of narrator--she's angry and belligerent. And she should be; she has faced incredible challenges in her professional and personal life. Perhaps because the experiences were so difficult, Donovan jumps all over the timeline and often spends more time ruminating about her trauma and pulling herself up to the next thing than actually remembering her time baking. This book is a little bit baking memoir, a lot of angry feminist realization, and a whole lot of working hard until you find a place that feels like yours. 

Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger
By Lisa Donovan
Penguin Press August 2020
304 pages
Read via Netgalley

Review: O Beautiful

Elinor Hanson is trying to reinvent herself. After years of working as a successful "Asian model," she has finished graduate school and is determined to be a successful writer. When her mentor offers her the chance to take over a story about an oil boom in the area where she grew up, Elinor cautiously accepts the assignment. As she interviews the men who have traveled to make their fortunes on the oil fields and the small town residents whose lives have been upended by the oil boom, she realizes anew that she has always been seen as an outsider. 

Elinor grew up in North Dakota as the daughter of a white US airman and the Korean woman he brought home after his time overseas. She knows what it is like to feel like an outsider as one of the few non-white students growing up in her North Dakota town, as an Asian woman in a largely white modeling industry, and as an older student in her journalism classes. 

O Beautiful is an unflinching look at the things that women, especially women of color, deal with on a daily basis. From the first pages, Elinor is accosted by men who "just want to talk" or "were just trying to be friendly." Jung Yun succeeds in portraying just how oppressive it is to live a life where you are always on your guard, always worried, always looking for the next possible threat. Elinor is often angry and I would say that this book is written with anger, too; there is anger about the way racism and sexism impact our lives, the way giant corporations are destroying the planet for profit, and the widening gap between people who can't make ends meet and those who have more money than they could ever spend. 

As the title indicates, this is a story about who belongs in America. Can woman truly feel at home in a society where they need to be on their guard? Can Black or Asian or Latino people find a place to call their own when the people around them see them as threats? O Beautiful is a tightly constructed novel about one woman searching for a place where she will be truly safe and welcome as an Asian American woman. 

O Beautiful
By Jung Yun
St. Martin's Press November 2021
320 pages
Read via Netgalley

The Nun and the Atheist: Mini Reviews of Agatha of Little Neon and Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

Agatha is committed to God and the church but, more than anything, she is committed to her sisters. When their diocese goes bankrupt, she can't fathom doing anything else but going with her sisters wherever they are sent. None of them expected to be assigned to a halfway house in Rhode Island. Agatha, Frances, Therese, and Mary Lucille leave behind their home and everyone they know to try to do some good for the people of Little Neon and the students at the local high school. 

Agatha of Little Neon is, in a way, a coming of age story. While she is in her mid-twenties, Agatha is discovering for the first time that the people in authority are not always looking out for her best interests. She is also starting to wonder who she might be if she hadn't promised her life to God and her sisters. Agatha, Frances, Therese, and Mary Lucille are well-acquainted with many of the virtues, but the thing that rings true on every page is kindness--they are kind to themselves, kind to each other, and kind to the people they encounter who are doing the best they can. This is a story about figuring out who you are and what is important when your community and your beliefs let you down.

Agatha of Little Neon
By Claire Luchette
Farrar, Strauss and Giroux August 2021
274 pages
Read via Netgalley

Gilda is not well. She is anxious and depressed, and usually thinking about death. The local ER staff knows her by name since she frequently goes there, thinking that she is dying. Her relationships with her family and girlfriend are strained. When she sees a flyer for mental health support, she gathers the courage to attend a group at a local church. Instead, she finds a friendly priest who assumes she is applying for the job of church receptionist. Gilda soon finds herself trying to keep too many lies straight--not only is she pretending that she is a straight, Catholic woman who is qualified for this job, she is also keeping up an email correspondence with a friend of her dead predecessor Grace while pretending to be Grace herself. 

Reading Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead is somewhat like watching a horror movie--every few minutes, you want to call out, "No! Don't do that. That is a terrible choice." Yet Gilda persists in lying to everyone around her, even herself. It's not malicious; it's just that Gilda can't see what the good choices might be. I think this book will ring true for many people who struggle with their mental health. It's hard to put this one down, as readers hope that this will be the moment that Gilda gets some help and is finally able to see that there is good in life, even if everyone in the room will indeed be dead someday. 

Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead
By Emily R. Austin
Atria Books July 2021
226 pages
Read via Netgalley 

Review: When You Get The Chance

Millie knows exactly what she wants, and how to get it. She will star on Broadway one day, and the best way to get there is to go across the country to a program that turns teens into stars. The only problem is that her dad isn't convinced she needs this program. Millie decides to stage her own Mama Mia-style investigation and find the mom who abandoned her--surely her mother will support her dreams. Is her mom the dance teacher at Millie's new class, the nurturing mother who hosts get-togethers for Broadway fanatics, or the actress/receptionist at Millie's internship? Finding her mom and figuring out the next right step is going to be a lot harder than belting out an 11 o'clock number. 

Millie is a force of nature. Emma Lord has written a character who is vivacious and determined, but slowly coming to realize that her impulsive choices impact the people in her life. And it's a beautiful cast of characters we get to enjoy--Millie's nerdy dad; her aunt who makes amazing milkshakes and runs a nightclub; Millie's geocaching best friend Teddy; and the perpetual thorn in her side, school stage manager Oliver. 

One of my favorite aspects of this story was the way Emma Lord captures people doing the best that they can. Millie's dad isn't trying to hide information about her mom; he just doesn't know how to talk about the woman he loved who left Millie with him and disapeared. Millie isn't trying to be sneaky or deceitful when she hatches her latest scheme; she just imagines it's the quickest way from point A to point B. This story is a beautiful look at the ways we inadvertently hurt the people we love and the ways that we can mend those relationships.  

When You Get The Chance is flat-out charming. It's a must-read for any YA theatre lover, and reading it would be a delightful way to spend any weekend. 

When You Get The Chance
By Emma Lord
Wednesday Books January 2022
320 pages
Read via Netgalley

Sci-Fi Mini Reviews: Queen's Peril & Sword and Pen

Padme Naberrie is newly elected as the queen of Naboo. She leaves her family behind and travels to the palace to begin her reign. But she will not be alone--she will live alongside a group of talented young women who will protect, advise, and assist her. When Naboo is invaded by the Trade Federation, the Queen and her handmaidens will have to work together like never before to survive the invasion and restore freedom to their planet.

Many of us watched The Phantom Menace and wished for more time with the brilliant, beautifully dressed, Queen Amidala of Naboo without interference from a certain whiny boy Jedi. E.K. Johnston has given us that chance with her fantastic trilogy (the third book will be out in April 2022). In Queen's Peril, Johnston expands what we saw in that first movie and shows readers that the greatest relationship in Padme's life was the bond between the queen and the handmaidens who would do anything for her. The book has some moments that readers may find difficult--as it turns out, the queen and her court have a fair amount of boring business to take care of and they are also teenage girls with an endless wardrobe at their disposal, so there is a lot of discussion of clothing. But Johnston excels at giving us a fuller understand of who Padme was and just how young she was when she was sent to rule an entire planet and ultimately, play a pivotal role in the future of the galaxy.

Queen's Peril
By E.K. Johnston 
Disney Lucasfilm Press June 2020
288 pages
Read via Netgalley 

Everything has led up to this moment--Jess Brightwell and his friends have defeated the corrupt leaders of the Great Library. But they aren't out of danger yet--other nations and powers are willing to fight for their chance at control, and establishing a new Archivist could be the most perilous battle of all.

It's incredibly difficult to write about the last book in a series without spoiling the other four, so I will stick to discussing the series as a whole. Rachel Caine wrote an excellent YA series with The Great Library. The world she created is fully realized, and the characters are easy to love. Readers will truly see how much each character has grown since we first met them in book 1, and there is a straight line from strangers to wary allies to a found family that each of them would die to protect. It is no small feat to write five books with edge-of-your-seat action and characters who truly grow and evolve throughout the series. The Great Library series is a excellent addition to any YA collection. 

Sword and Pen

The Great Library #5

By Rachel Caine

Berkley September 2019

368 pages

Read via Netgalley 

Review: Marilla Before Anne

Everyone knows and loves the story of Anne, the plucky orphan who won the hearts of the people of Avonlea and her adoptive parents Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. But who was Marilla before the events of Anne of Green Gables? When we first encountered Marilla in that book, she was a dour woman determined to shut everyone out. Louise Michalos imagines Marilla as a teenager and young woman, as she falls in love and suffers great tragedy.

I am a huge fan of L.M. Montgomery's characters and stories. I love the books and am reading the first to my daughter. I've enjoyed both the movies from the 1980s and the recent Netflix miniseries. I know that people who love Anne and Green Gables feel very strongly about changes, and your appreciation of this story will depend on how you feel about a revelation that will change everything  you knew about Marilla. 

In Marilla Before Anne, Louise Michalos does a lot of things well. It's lovely to get some back story on the characters you know and love, especially the relationships between Marilla and Matthew and Marilla and Rachel. But the major change Louise Michalos has made to Marilla's story means that the story of the Cuthberts is forever changed. If you are willing to have the story changed so drastically, Marilla Before Anne is a wonderful way to spend some more time with the characters you already love. But if you hold very tightly to the tale that you've always known, this probably isn't the book for you.

Marilla Before Anne
By Louise Michalos
Nimbus Publishing May 2021
256 pages
Read via Netgalley 

Mini Reviews: Home Now and The Liturgy of Politics

Lewistown, Maine had been a relatively thriving small town. But then the mill closed and people started to leave. Residents wondered if the streets would ever be full of shops and neighbors again. Slowly, the town started to fill with new residents, until 1/6 of the town's population was made up of Muslim refugees. Cynthia Anderson looks at the ways the town came together and split apart across racial and religious lines by examining the experiences of people from a Congolese refugee applying to college in the US to members of an anti-Islamic group. What can one town teach us about the way we treat immigrants and the things we hold most dear? 

Anderson's goal in writing Home Now is a laudable one. She saw all the ways that her life and her family were like those of the refugees she interviewed, and she integrates a good deal of that into her book. But I often felt like it lacked a direction. Anderson could recount stories from long-time residents and refugees who just arrived this week for many years to come, and the conclusion would be the same--it is difficult to live in community with other people and all too easy to blame our difficulties on others. But if you are looking for an interesting glimpse into the ways we can find space for everyone's culture and traditions within one city's limits, this might be a good read for you. 

Home Now:
How 6000 Refugees Transformed An American Town
By Cynthia Anderson
PublicAffairs October 2019
336 pages
Read via Netgalley

There are two things we're not supposed to talk about at the dinner table: religion and politics. Nothing makes people argue faster than presenting opposing views on these topics. But Kaitlyn Schiess argues that our faith should inform our politics, and that the structure of our churches is shaped by politics (even if we refrain from talking about the president at the church potluck). While liturgy may be an unfamiliar concept to some people, the idea is that we are shaped by what we repeat--whether that is watching our favorite pundit on the news or attending church. This book directs readers to ask themselves, "what am I being formed to love?"

Scheiss began writing this book while she was studying at a seminary during and following the 2016 election. While she and her fellow soon-to-be pastors did not want to tell people how to vote, they recognized that our faith shapes our politics and our politics shape our faith. She believes that if Christians keep their allegiance to God above allegiance to any party or politician, the ways we should act (and vote) can become clearer. This book may make readers uncomfortable, and that's a good thing. While the ideas may challenge readers, the writing is not overly academic. The Liturgy of Politics just might make people re-evaluate what is forming them and how their beliefs and actions impact the people in their communities. 

The Liturgy of Politics:

Spiritual Formation for the Sake of Our Neighbor

By Kaitlyn Schiess

InterVarsity Press September 2020

220 pages

Read via Netgalley 

Review: Black Sun

In the city of Tova, the priests and leaders of the Sky Made clans are preparing to celebrate the winter solstice. Sun Priest Naranpa has finally ascended to the position she has worked towards for years, but her new role allows her to see all of the cracks in their system. Far away from the glamour and prestige of the city, a sailor named Xiala is asked to transport a strange passenger to Tova. The man on her ship is Serapio, who has great power and great anger towards the priests. He is on a mission to make them pay for their sins against the Crow people. 

This story takes place on the Meridian, inspired by the Incans and Puebloans before European colonizers arrived. The world created on these pages is beautiful and sweeping, and you will feel like you are on the cliffs of Tova or sailing the dangerous seas with Xiala. There is a perfect balance here between an expansive world and a focus on the characters. Each one of them is grappling with finding their place in a system and culture they did not create, as well as the ways they are perceived by the people around them. 

Rebecca Roanhorse has nimbly walked the line between giving readers all the information they need while preparing them for a second book where all these storylines will converge. Black Sun is a book you won't want to put down, and I can't wait to find out what happens to  Naranpa, Xiala, and Serapio in the sequel (expected in April 2022).

Black Sun

(Between Earth and Sky #1)
By Rebecca Roanhorse
Gallery/Saga Press October 2020
461 pages
Read via Netgalley

Mini Reviews: A Spy in the Struggle and The Nobodies

Yolanda Vance is used to working hard, but she also believes in honesty. When her law firm gets raided by the FBI, she turns over evidence against them and goes to work as an agent instead. The FBI is watching a group of black activists who claim that a local corporation is intentionally hurting their neighborhood, and Yolanda is the perfect person to send undercover. As she discovers what is really going on, she is caught in the impossible position of doing her job and hurting people she has come to care for or breaking the rules and fighting back. 

I really liked the premise of this book--why don't we have more stories about women (particularly women of color) who are detectives and spies and agents? Aya de Leon does a wonderful job of showing through Yolanda's experiences that it is not always easy to know who is good and who is bad. Unfortunately, the character of Yolanda fell flat for me; it seemed that the author hadn't really decided who Yolanda was outside the parameters of this story. 

A Spy in the Struggle
By Aya de Leon
Kensington Books December 2020
352 pages
Read via Netgalley

Joan Dixon doesn't really want to be working at a place where her bosses are a decade younger than she is, but it's hard to be a working journalist and Bloom was hiring copywriters. As she adjusts to working at the tech start-up, she starts to make friends among her coworkers. But the good times don't last--Joan discovers there may be a major problem with her idyllic company. This could be the story of a lifetime, but it could also destroy her only steady job in years and the relationships she has been building.

The Nobodies is unfortunately not my favorite Liza Palmer novel. Joan is a tough character to follow, as she seems to fumble everything in her own life. But Palmer really captures the feeling of failure well. When Joan's latest story is rejected by an editor or an attempt to make a friend goes awry, it's enough to break your heart and bring back every terrible memory of your own rejection. If you love a book set in the world of tech start-ups or a story about a woman determined to make her own way in the world, The Nobodies might be the perfect pick for you. 

The Nobodies

By Liza Palmer

Flatiron Books September 2019

266 pages

Read via Netgalley 

Review: Great Circle

Marian Graves is a woman accustomed to close calls. As an infant, she and her brother were rescued from a sinking ocean liner. The orphans are sent to live with their uncle, and Marian transports alcohol during Prohibition to keep food on the table. As a teenager, she drops out of school and makes a dangerous bargain to achieve her goals of learning to fly and circumnavigating the globe. 

Great Circle is a massive read, and not just in number of pages. Shipstead includes more characters and settings and plot points than most authors could fit between two covers, and she mostly succeeds in making them all cohesive. It's intentionally huge--the characters are people who want to span the globe or be remembered forever. 

Marian has known from an early age exactly what she wants to do, and she is unwilling to let anything or anyone come between her and her goal. This lack of consideration leads to problems, which are highlighted through the secondary story of Hadley Baxter, a young actress who is researching Marian as she prepares to portray her in a movie. While the women are living decades apart, both struggle with the spoken and hidden expectations of women when it comes to sex, money, power, and control over their lives. 

Shipstead is a writer who has left nothing to chance. While her novel is expansive, nothing is careless. I imagine that a second or third read would reveal connections that we all missed the first time around. Reading Great Circle means deciding to travel the world, cross centuries, and meet characters from bootleggers to WWII pilots to 21st century movie stars. It's evident that Maggie Shipstead loves her characters and you too will find that you need to know what Marian does next.

Great Circle
By Maggie Shipstead
Knopf May 2021
627 pages
Read via Netgalley

Review: Smile

Sarah Ruhl ushered three things into the world during the same year--a play that opened on Broadway and her twin babies. After spending months on bed rest and closely monitoring her pregnancy due to cholestasis of the liver, her babies were delivered safely. But the next day, her lactation consultant noticed her face was drooping and Ruhl learned that she had Bell's palsy. Then her babies are rushed to the intensive care unit. When they all finally go home, Ruhl wonders if she is living in a fairy tale--did she trade the face she didn't know to cherish for the safe delivery of her children? 

This story is both deeply personal and terribly universal. Ruhl writes about the number of women who become depressed while on bed rest, women who develop severe conditions during pregnancy or after giving birth, and the parents who anxiously wait for answers about their babies. Many parents can remember the specific exhaustion of waking up to feed a baby or the uncertainty in helping an older child navigate a changed family. Hopefully, all of us can remember the moments when someone showed up for us like they do for Ruhl--for an important achievement at work, to drive us home from the hospital, or to walk our newborn in soothing circles while we catch a few moments of sleep.

I first experienced the magic of Sarah Ruhl's words when I read some of her plays for a theatre class in college. Playwrights, by necessity, are sparse writers. There is not a lot of room for extra words when actors must keep the audience interested in what is happening onstage. As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about the right words and facial expressions to convey meaning, it was devastating for Ruhl to not be able to pronounce p sounds as she read to her daughter or smile to convey warmth and friendliness. "I felt inside a paradox: I thought I could not truly reenter the world until I could smile again; and yet, how could I be happy enough to smile again when I couldn't reenter the world?"

Smile is indeed the story of a particular face. It's also a chronicle of a mother with an intense career and a woman who has to navigate a health care system that often fails its patients. Ruhl is funny and relatable and there are moments it seems ridiculous that she can make a story about her pain so compelling and delightful to read. I'm glad she decided to share this story with the world and hope that it will help more people discover both her prose and her plays. 

Smile: The Story of a Face
By Sarah Ruhl
Simon and Schuster October 2021
256 pages
Read via Netgalley 

Review: The King of Infinite Space

Jackson Dane has died and turned his son Benjamin's world upside down. Ben's mother has remarried, he's seeing his lost love Lia in his dreams again, he's not sure who he can count on, and no one knows what will happen to the theatre empire his father built. His best friend Horatio comes to help, and the two start to wonder if Ben's father actually committed suicide. Lia is working at the Three Sisters' Floral Boutique and starting to suspect that there may be something strange about her employers. None of them can predict what will happen at the theatre's annual gala, as they discover truths about themselves and what really happened to Jackson Dane. 

If you know your Shakespeare, you recognized right away that The King of Infinite Space is a retelling of Hamlet. Trying to bring a new spin to a beloved Shakespearean play is a tricky endeavor, but Lyndsay Faye rises to the occasion (as she usually does). Instead of just working with one play, she pulls in characters and elements from multiple Shakespearean tales. This story is imbued with all the darkness and longing of the original work, but it is still accessible to people who have never seen the play. 

The reader gets to experience multiple points of view, as readers hear from Lia (Ophelia), Benjamin, and Horatio. Each of these characters is given new depth and angles. Ben is a philosophy student who is equally charming and manic as he wonders about the purpose of life and love. Horatio, a political science professor, is an anchor and balance for Ben's swings. Lia is an artist, who is trying to decide just how much she wants to depend on her relationship with Ben. 

Lyndsay Faye writes beautifully; her descriptions both bring New York City and the New World's Stage Theatre to vivid life. You can't help but root for and care for these characters, even as they make decisions that will definitely end badly. The King of Infinite Space is a book for anyone who loves Hamlet, anyone who loves a mystery (and yes, there are twists even for those who know the play well), and for anyone who loves a good story about the tragedies and yearnings of life. 

The King of Infinite Space
By Lyndsay Faye
G.P. Putnam's Sons August 2021
381 pages
Read via Netgalley